The Urbana, Illinois City Council voted 4 to 3 tonight to approve an expansion of the Champaign County satellite jail by more than fifty percent in size – increasing the current bed count from 141 to 219.
The Urbana Council meeting was attended by Sheriff Dustin Heuerman and State’s Attorney Julia Rietz. Heuerman told the Council last week that the expansion was needed to improve the jail experience for his prisoners. He said that the jail population numbers were an issue for the State’s Attorney’s Office, though Rietz never spoke.
The expansion will cost taxpayers $20.4 million, including about $5 million from their ARPA funds.
The Council voted 4-3 to approve the jail expansion:
- Chaundra Bishop: Yes
- Maryalice Wu: Yes
- James Quisenberry: Yes
- Shirese Hursey: Yes
- Christopher Evans: No
- Jaya Kolisetty: No
- Grace Wilken: No