Douglas County commissioner: As in case of jail expansion, duty may not always align with public opinion

Douglas County Commissioner Nancy Thellman said one hard part of being an elected official is sometimes having to make decisions that don’t entirely align with public opinion. Expanding the local jail may be one of those decisions.

As the Journal-World reported earlier this week, some vocal opponents to previous jail expansion plans amounting to $44 million have not changed their minds about scaled-down plans, which preliminary estimates peg at $23 million. But county leaders and local law enforcement have been pushing for the move for several years now.

“I don’t know that there’s ever going to be reconciling those two stands,” Thellman said. “No question, this is a hard time to get public support for law enforcement projects, and especially anything related to incarceration.

“I understand the angst behind that. I really do,” she continued. “But I also understand that as county commissioners, in our job, our responsibility is to oversee public safety, public infrastructure, public dollars, and work with the facts — and the facts are that our jail is not adequate to meet the needs of the people inside it.”