The new Woodbury County jail is expected to be “substantially complete” either Friday or Monday, according to officials

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Officials in charge of construction of the new Law Enforcement Center in Woodbury County expect the facility to be considered “substantially complete” either today or early next week.

A press release from the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center Authority states that the Goldberg Group, the architect of the project, will soon issue the “Certificate of Substantial Completion” for the facility. The agency that oversaw the project says the certificate should be issued later on Friday, August 16, or no later than Monday, August 19.

“In view of this positive news, the authority and the [Woodbury] The County Sheriff's Office has planned for the agency to officially turn over the keys to the county next week. At that time, the Sheriff's Office and other county officials will begin the move-in process and otherwise complete set-up, training and other activities necessary to be ready to accept inmates into the facility,” the agency said in a news release.

When a facility is considered substantially complete, the agency says it means that enough work has been completed to enable the owner to use the facility for its intended use.

The Authority reports that the contractor, Hausmann Construction, has a contractually agreed time frame of 60 days after substantial completion in which to work on the final completion of the facility.

On Tuesday, August 13, the agency said the Law Enforcement Center was just waiting for one more report before the facility could be considered “substantially complete.”

The problem was with the earthquake protection. Earlier this summer, the agency announced that Hausman Construction had failed to install 300 earthquake protection devices that are part of the fire suppression system. By August, the devices had been installed and tested, and the agency was waiting for the official test report.

The agency said this was the last major obstacle preventing the plant from being “substantially completed.”

The agency has stated that there are still issues to be addressed, but that this will not hinder the completion of the project. The budget for the project has already been increased to almost $70 million, exceeding $50 million.

“The agency will announce further details regarding the grand opening and public tours of the Law Enforcement Center in the near future and is excited to show the public this state-of-the-art facility,” the agency said in a press release.

A history of delays

The facility was originally scheduled to open on September 14, 2023, but this date was delayed because the facility did not have fire dampers designed to prevent fires from spreading throughout the building.

At the time, the project was scheduled for completion on April 4, 2024, but that date also passed. After that, the project was scheduled for early July 2024, then late July, and now the facility is expected to be “substantially complete” by the end of the day, August 16, or no later than Monday, August 19.

The Law Enforcement Center facilities

The Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center will include several facilities that Sioux City and Woodbury County officials say will improve employee safety.

This includes:

• A prison with space for almost 450 inmates.
• Four courtrooms.
• Offices for use by the county sheriff, county attorney, state law enforcement, and other county and city officials.

In addition, Woodbury County has a contract that allows it to lease some prison cells to the federal government.

The federal government pays Woodbury County $100 per prisoner per day, which has room for about 100 federal prisoners. That's about $10,000 in revenue per day.

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