Beltrami County approves $35.73 million bond for jail phase 2

Beltrami County commissioners approved a second general obligation jail bond of $35.73 million, pushing the county’s new jail project into its next financing stage at the Crown Property site on 815 Pioneer Street SE in Bemidji. The debt is part of the countywide funding plan for phase 2 of the replacement jail.

County records show the project was already moving quickly before the new bond vote. The Beltrami County Board approved Klein McCarthy Architects of Minneapolis to begin the next phase on May 21, 2024, after the county closed on the Crown Property on Dec. 22, 2023. By the end of that month, schematic design was complete, with 78 plan sheets and a 194-page design report.

The county has framed the jail as a response to conditions at the existing facility. Beltrami County’s jail replacement fact sheet says the current jail opened in 1989 with room for 81 inmates, later grew to 106 with double bunking, and then was reduced to a maximum of 80 inmates in 2023 after changes in Department of Corrections rules, more violent offenders and staffing problems. The county also estimated it was spending $1.3 million to house inmates in other jails, a cost that helps explain why commissioners have kept advancing the replacement project.

For residents, the new bond matters because general obligation debt is backed by the countywide tax base and adds future debt service to county budgets. That can limit room for other spending as Beltrami County pays for land, design, construction and financing on a facility that commissioners have already said must be substantially improved to meet state requirements.

The jail site itself covers 9.2 usable acres on Pioneer Street SE, with secondary access to Railroad Street SE. County site-selection materials show leaders weighed multiple parcels using criteria such as lot size and purchase price before settling on the current location.

The same board discussion also turned to the Minnesota Nuclear Energy Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of more than 60 organizations seeking to end Minnesota’s nuclear moratorium. That issue reaches Beltrami County because it is tied to long-term electricity supply, rate pressure and broader economic planning, not just a passing meeting note.