Council approves $120 million jail retrofit

Kansas City Council members voted Thursday to convert the city’s temporary modular detention facility into a permanent jail. The decision ends a multi-year search for a new municipal detention center and replaces a planned $201 million construction project in the East Bottoms neighborhood.

The retrofit at 7740 E. Front St. will cost $120 million. This figure includes $25.8 million already spent on the temporary structure. The conversion adds 84 beds, increasing total capacity from 136 to 220. It also builds out a kitchen, laundry, clinic, administrative offices, and intake areas. The plan avoids an $18.4 million expense to relocate an existing tow lot.

Financial constraints drove the change in direction. The public safety sales tax, renewed by voters in 2025, can fund only about one-quarter of the $402.6 million estimated for all major public safety projects. Councilman Kevin O’Neill, who represents the 1st District at large, compared the budget limit to buying a $300,000 home instead of a $1 million one. He expressed concern that the city was changing the scope of the project again.

The temporary facility, known locally as the World Cup jail, has not yet housed inmates. It received a temporary occupancy certificate in late August solely for administrative offices. The council set a target to begin detaining people charged with municipal offenses in January. To staff the facility, council members raised the minimum starting pay for correctional officers from $19.27 to $25.40 an hour on Thursday. Senior correctional officer pay increased from $20.10 to $27.35 per hour, retroactive to October 18.

Kansas City has operated without a municipal jail since 2009. Suspects currently wait in police stations or facilities in Vernon and Johnson counties. Council members have previously rejected a shared jail with Jackson County, a site near U.S. Highway 40 and Interstate 70, and a temporary location at downtown police headquarters.

The tax is expected to generate $25 million annually for project bonds. With $17.5 million already committed to other items, approximately $7.5 million remains available. A resolution passed Thursday caps annual debt service for the new projects at $21 million. Assistant City Manager Tammy Queen stated that the retrofit reduces the jail’s annual debt service from $17.2 million to $10.2 million.

Two other projects remain over budget. A replacement for the Central Patrol Division is estimated at $94 million. A community resource center is estimated at $89.2 million. Mayor Quinton Lucas supports co-locating both in a Midtown Justice Campus near Linwood Boulevard and Forest Avenue. Third District Councilwoman Melissa Patterson Hazley cited a systemic problem of designing projects without cost limits, noting that architects need guardrails to prevent scope creep.