CADIZ — The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Harrison County Jail was held Thursday morning.

Commissioner Amy Norris kicked off the ceremony by thanking everyone for their support.

“Today is a big day for us, a celebration of a new venture, a bricks and mortar milestone in the county and the result of collaborative planning efforts throughout several years that required hard work and coordination between many partners,” she said.

Norris said her husband, the late commissioner Dale Norris, helped get the project started.

“This is a project that my late husband Dale was proud to be initially a part of, and I know he had hoped to see this become a reality. Although I am the one standing before you today, it gives me pride to see this project and to appreciate the work that’s been done and reinforce the vision for the future,” she said.

Ohio Sen. Frank Hoagland commended Sheriff Ronald J. Myers’ dedication to the project.

“I’ve always seen him as a leader. To me, leadership is different than management. Leadership has to have a vision. They have to understand what the sum of the problem is going to end up being,” Hoagland, R-Mingo Junction, said.

Economic Development Director Nick Homrighausen said the project is keeping Harrison County one of the safest counties in Ohio.

“This facility is another example of our county’s progressive forward-thinking leadership,” he said.

Myers said that the facility will allow the sheriff’s office to provide more law enforcement services and more efficient services to the county.

“My staff and the residents of Harrison County have put their faith into me to fulfill a dream and a legacy for Harrison County,” he said.

Garry McAnally, owner of Wachtel and McAnally Architects and Planners, will be designing the building, and he hopes the project will be completed in about 16 months.

“Our goal as a team is to bring this facility in on time and on budget,” McNally said.

McAnally added that his company has designed correctional facilities for over 36 percent of the counties in the state of Ohio.

“This was truly a challenging project, but we had a great team to work with. The sheriff and his staff have been fantastic. We want to thank the commissioners for hiring us. Sheriff Myers and his team put a lot of effort and time into this,” he said.

Norris said that the new jail will save county funds in the long run. The current jail can only hold eight inmates at a time, meaning that many inmates have to be transported to neighboring counties.

“In 2019, our county spent $170,000, and then in 2022, $311,000 for housing and transporting inmates elsewhere. We see this project in a broader context as an important part of the greater effort to keep our tax dollars local,” she said.

Annette Chamber-Smith, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, discussed funding for the project.

“I remember in 2019 when I was meeting with Governor (Mike) Dewine and advocating for money to go to the jail for construction. I showed him a bunch of pictures and I said, ‘This is not how we want Ohio to have to operate,’ and he agreed. Ever since then, he’s been putting money into the capital budget for jails and the Bureau of Adult Detention has been administering that,” she said.

Chamber-Smith said that the new facility will be about six times the size of the current jail and have more security and more rehabilitative opportunities.

“It’s really a win-win-win from any angle,” she said.

The project will include a 22,000-square-foot addition plus renovations to existing facilities. It will have 60 beds among six different housing units for separation and classification, two classrooms, outdoor recreation, counseling offices, a full-service kitchen and laundry and two sally ports for transport and reception, as well as a visitation unit.

Myers said that the facility will also have state-of-the-art video visitation in each unit. He also said that inmates can be seen prior to trial through video conferencing, which will reduce transportation costs.

Inmates will be held in single cells, dual occupancy cells or dorm-style beds depending on the level of security needed for each individual.

The new facility will be located at 978 E. Market St. in Cadiz behind the Sheriff’s Office at the former SSG George J. Conaway U.S. Army Reserve Center property.

Harrison County’s current jail facility dates from 1925 and is the second oldest jail in the state.