The state last week released $650,000 for maintenance and improvement of the current 1873 regional jail and lockup facility operated by the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office. The funding is the first of four planned allocations totaling $6 million from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 5-year Capital Investment Plan intended to fund repair and replacement of the facility at 149 Main Street in Edgartown.
State-sponsored studies showing a need to modernize the facility date back to 1990, according to a release from the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office. The secure facility serves as the only regional resource to the entire law enforcement community and trial court in Dukes County. A series of site visits and long-term strategy planning sessions with the state partner agencies took place in 2019, 2020 and 2021, according to the release.
The $6 million bond funds will be made available over four years: $650,000 in Fiscal Year 2023, $2.25 million in FY 2024, $2.25 million in FY 2025 and $850,000 in FY 2026. The first year of funding will be dedicated to design efforts.
“During Fiscal Year 2023, we anticipate that DCAMM [the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance] will complete an updated study, environmental impact and schematic design. The next three years will allow DCAMM to conduct competitive procurement and begin the integration of the new construction with the existing facility,” Sheriff Robert W. Ogden told the Gazette.
Sheriff Ogden said that as the improvements to the existing facility proceed, work will continue to identify a site of a new regional facility on Martha’s Vineyard that could serve multiple uses, including a trial court and State Police barracks.
