Bond issue for Webster County jail fails

RED CLOUD, Neb. (KSNB) - Webster County voters said no to increasing property taxes to help pay off a $6.5 million dollar bond for a new jail.

Unofficial results show 907 people voted against the bond election with 347 voting for it.

The current Webster County Law Center, which serves as both a jail and the Webster County Sheriff’s Office, was built in the late 1880s.

The building is showing signs of deterioration and is beyond the point of a renovation.

Webster County Sheriff Troy Schmitz told Local4 back in September that the building should have been replaced 50 years ago.

“We’ve outgrown the building as far as the electrical capacity unit, everything’s computers now so that takes up a lot more, radios have grown so, we just need a new modern facility,” he said at the time.

In an email response following election night, Sheriff Schmitz said the majority vote has ended this project.

The sheriff will sit down with the county commissioners to figure out what the next step will be.

“I can tell you that no jail will be built,” Sheriff Schmitz said. “The commissioners and myself were very clear that if the bond issue failed, we would not build a jail.”

He said he and his staff will continue to work hard, and strive to make Webster County as safe as they can.