Lawrence CountyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s new seal features the courthouse at the center, surrounded by the 14 townships located in the county ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” represented by 14 stars and rays of sun.
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IRONTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” The Lawrence County Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday to put a half-percent increase in county sales taxes on the ballot to help build a new $32 million Lawrence County jail.
The proposed sales tax increase would raise an estimated $3 million per year if approved by voters in the May 3 primary election, said Chris Kline, county administrator and deputy county auditor.
The combined sales tax rate ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” state and county ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” in Lawrence County stands at 7.25%, the same as most other counties in southern Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Taxation. The state tax rate is 5.75%, and the county rate is 1.5%. The increase would take it to 7.75%.
The state of Ohio already has agreed to put up $16.8 million toward the construction of a 200-bed jail if the sales tax increase is approved by voters, said Sheriff Jeff Lawless.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe desperately need a new jail,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Lawless said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThis is the closest weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve been in three decades to get a new jail. IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m very hopeful the citizens will support it.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
A new jail would replace the existing 50-year-old jail on South 5th Street across the street from the Lawrence County Courthouse. The jail was built to house 52 prisoners, but current space limitations call for only 27 prisoners to be housed there.
The county currently holds an average of 55 prisoners per day at the jail and another 35 at other Ohio jails, Lawless said. That average goes from 90 to 125 or 130 per day during the summer months, he said.
A new jail also would require the county to double the number of jail personnel, Kline said.
The commissioners also adopted a resolution authorizing $18,467 in Medicaid local sales tax transition funds to the capital improvement fund to tear down several buildings on Park Avenue. A structure at South 6th Street and Park Avenue has been torn down already, Kline said.
Two others are scheduled for demolition, he said.
The property will be used for parking for county employees, Kline said. That should free up more parking spots for visitors to the courthouse, he said.
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