Three finalists to be interviewed next week to build new Walsh County jail

GRAFTON, N.D. (KVRR) — Walsh County is moving forward with plans to build a new jail to be paid for with a sales tax increase that passed during a special election in May.

Three finalists for the job have been selected and will be interviewed next week.

They include architecture firms out of Minneapolis and St. Louis Park, Minnesota and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

• Klein McCarthy Architects, headquartered in St. Louis Park, Minn.

• Elevatus Architecture, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Ind.

• JLG Architects, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn.

The county commission will get a recommendation at a special meeting on Tuesday, September 30.

They are looking to build a 46-bed jail at a cost of approximately $25 million.

The county currently uses just 16 cells due to dozens of problems with the 50-year-old building.

Construction is scheduled to begin next year.