Kansas City Drops New Jail Plan, Will Convert Unopened Temporary Facility Into Permanent Jail

Kansas City has changed course in its long effort to establish a permanent municipal jail, opting to convert its temporary modular detention center into the permanent facility instead of building a new one. The estimated cost of the retrofit is $120 million.

The shift away from a planned $201 million jail in the East Bottoms was driven by finances rather than long-term planning, community input or a change in need. Council members recently learned that the public safety sales tax, renewed by voters in 2025, could cover only about one-quarter of the $402.6 million estimated for a jail and other large public safety projects.

"We all live within budgets," said Councilman Kevin O'Neill, who represents the 1st District at large, during a Tuesday committee meeting. "We can't afford a $1 million house, we buy a $300,000 house, right? My fear right now is that we are changing the scope again."

Under the new plan, the facility at 7740 E. Front St. would gain 84 beds, raising capacity from 136 to 220. The work would also build out a kitchen, laundry space, clinic, administrative offices, and visiting, intake and release areas. The site would leave room for further growth and for expansion of Water Services Department facilities, without moving the existing tow lot, an $18.4 million expense contemplated under the earlier plan. Together, those changes would save nearly $100 million. Total spending on new municipal detention facilities would reach $145.8 million, including $25.8 million already spent on the temporary jail.

The temporary jail, nicknamed the "World Cup jail," did not open for the tournament and still has not opened. It received a temporary occupancy certificate in late August, but only for administrative offices. Council has set a January goal to begin housing people charged with municipal offenses, though the city has not hired enough staff. On Thursday, council members raised minimum starting pay for correctional officers from $19.27 to $25.40 an hour and for senior correctional officers from $20.10 to $27.35, retroactive to Oct. 18, to compete with five other correctional facilities in the metro area.

Kansas City has had no jail since 2009. People accused of violations such as trespassing, disorderly conduct or some alcohol-related offenses are held at police stations or taken to facilities in Vernon and Johnson counties. Council members have previously considered and then dropped several alternatives, including a shared jail with Jackson County, a new jail near U.S. Highway 40 and Interstate 70, and a temporary jail in the police headquarters downtown.

Two other projects remain over budget: a replacement for the Police Department's Central Patrol Division, estimated at $94 million, and a community resource center offering wraparound services, crisis support and reentry programs, estimated at $89.2 million. Staff said final costs depend on council decisions about location and whether to merge them. Mayor Quinton Lucas favors co-locating them in a "Midtown Justice Campus" near Linwood Boulevard and Forest Avenue, saying he questions whether the city can afford both separately.

Third District Councilwoman Melissa Patterson Hazley described a "systemic problem" of designing projects without cost limits. "The architect is going to draw you the Taj Mahal every time unless you give them guardrails because that's their job," she said.

The tax is expected to provide $25 million a year for project bonds, but $17.5 million is already committed to items such as police body cameras and information technology, leaving about $7.5 million. The original scope would have required $34.2 million in annual debt service. A resolution passed Thursday prioritizes the retrofit first, then the police station and resource center equally, and asks for a financing plan capping annual debt service at $21 million. Assistant City Manager Tammy Queen said the retrofit cuts the jail's annual debt service from $17.2 million to $10.2 million.