Wake County Wants To Build Additional Facility For Growing Prison Population

TheRaleigh City Councilapproved a special permit Wednesday to allow the county to put more jail space right across from the Hammond Road Detention Annex.

The new facility would house 416 additional inmates by the fall of 2002. The growth comes at a time when the county faces a tight budget and is already building an addition onto the annex.

"It's a matter of prioritizing these needs," says Phil Stout, Wake County Facilities Director. "There's not enough money to do all the things we need to do. Detection facilities are something we're mandated to do, so we really don't have any choice."

The county will now step up negotiations to buy the 19 acres of land. To ease overcrowding, a jail study predicts the county will need to add a total of 1,500 inmate beds over the next 20 years.