The Kent County Corrections and Detention Millage is a dedicated property tax funding operations, staffing, programming and infrastructure for the main county jail and the juvenile detention center.
Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young explains approval of the proposed .98 mills would fund a renewal and increase through 2045, continuing operation of the county’s central booking system and funding medical and psychological services improvements.
“This is really aimed at just doing the work that we already agreed to do, that we've been doing very successfully over the last decades, and make sure that we're staying with the times, so that we don't create an issue for the taxpayers in Kent County for a gap service that hasn’t been provided.”
The sheriff emphasizes the original jail wing built in 1972 now houses the medical unit in a converted cell block.
It no longer meets modern standards of care and is overwhelmed by increasing demand for mental health and substance use disorders treatment.
“When somebody is receiving medical treatment or psychological treatment doing it in a facility that isn't well suited for it can actually have a negative impact on their health. So that's also a very primary function of this. Better medical, and psychological services, better workflow. Safer because we're not having to export people out of our facilities, and in the long run, less expensive for the community/ That’s why we think this is worth doing.”
Sheriffs are constitutionally obligated to operate jails.
If the millage fails, the $24 million shortfall would be diverted from Kent County’s General Fund, potentially impacting other departments and services.
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