$20 million Montgomery County Jail renovation project, by the numbers

Montgomery County officials last week announced a major renovation project at Montgomery County Jail that will create more than 100 medical beds for inmates, with work expected to begin sometime late next year.

“There’ll be higher outcomes for the success of treating individuals with mental health issues and addiction issues when there’s adequate space to treat these chronic health conditions,” said Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck. “This renovation will not solve all of the challenges in managing an incredibly sick and addicted population. But it does address the essential needs that have been demonstrated again and again.”

Plans for the jail’s future have been in development for six years.

A total of seven inmates have died at the facility this year, and Naphcare — the jail’s health care provider — said its workers are responding to more overdoses among inmates than they have in recent years.

Here’s a look at numbers behind the renovation project:

$20 million: The expected cost of the renovations at the jail

1964: The year the old portion of Montgomery County Jail was built

2017: They year the Montgomery County Justice Committee was created to review policies and determine investments at the jail

26%: The percentage increase since 2019 in area emergency departments’ encounters with patients with behavioral health needs

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

27: The number of suspected overdoses Naphcare staff responded to at the jail last year

32: The number of suspected overdoses health care staff responded to in the first six months of 2023

898: The number of general population beds at the jail currently

226: The number of general population beds the facility will remove with the renovation

12: The number of medical beds at the jail currently

100: The number of medical beds the jail will add during the renovation

604: The number of inmates at Montgomery County Jail as of last week

$200 million: The rough cost of the creation of a new jail facility

2021: The year the county announced it would not move forward with the construction of a new jail facility

2024: The year jail renovations are expected to begin

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