Stearns County Moves Forward with New $325 Million Criminal Justice Center
By Fay Harvey
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — In November 2024, the Stearns County Board in Minnesota approved a $325 million construction budget for a new jail, courtrooms, sheriff and county attorney’s offices. The decision follows a decade of discussions about replacing the county’s 1986-built Law Enforcement Center, which is nearing the end of its useful life.
The new one-story Criminal Justice Center is designed with future expansion in mind, addressing current occupancy issues while planning for future growth. The facility will increase the jail’s capacity to 270 beds, meeting immediate demands and projecting an operational capacity of nearly 300 beds by 2045. Plans also include new offices for law enforcement, the county attorney, community corrections and probation as well as 14 courtrooms to accommodate evolving needs. Funding will come from a 30-year, 3/8th cent sales tax approved in November 2024, costing taxpayers $34 a year.
Stearns County, which includes 30 cities and 34 townships, has experienced significant population growth over the last decade.
The current Law Enforcement Center, built in 1986, has exceeded capacity since 1996. Originally built to accommodate 97 beds, the county added double-bunking units in the early 2000s. A 2010 study by St. Paul, Minn., architecture firm Wold Architects found that the facility was nearing the end of its usability, leading to temporary renovations completed in 2015 that increased capacity to 151 beds, with an operational capacity of 135. Despite these efforts, the county spends more than $500,000 annually to house inmates outside the county due to insufficient space.
In 2019, Minneapolis-based design firm BVK Group conducted an updated needs assessment and master plan for the facility, which was completed in 2022. In 2023, the county hired Klein McCarthy Architects of St. Louis Park, Minn., and Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson. HDR was also brought on as design architect for the justice campus and courthouse.
The exact location for the new facility remains undetermined. Discussions have focused on whether to build on the current downtown site, which may lead to inefficiencies such as longer detainee transportation times, or a vacant site, which offers greater design flexibility and potentially lower costs.
With funding secured, county administrators are advancing plans for the new facility, though final schematics and designs remain under development.
Caption for featured image: A new center in St. Cloud, Minn., addresses capacity issues the previous Law Enforcement Center had faced since 1996. Building a new facility will lower taxpayer costs going towards construction and also allows for greater design capabilities. Photo Credit: Josh Hild/Unsplash
