Crook County Undersheriff James Savage walks through Crook County's jail, which has 4 cells and 16 beds, in 2004. (Andy Tullis/Bulletin file photo)

Crook County’s bond measure for a new jail received a sturdy majority of the vote Tuesday, paving the way for a new 76-bed facility to be built by late 2018.

The new $10 million, 26-year bond will help pay for construction of a new 76-bed jail downtown at NE Court and Second streets, next to the Crook County Sheriff’s Office. The bond will cost $22 per $100,000 of assessed value.

The bond will pay for a majority of the proposed $17 million jail, which would replace the 48-year-old, 16-bed facility the county currently uses. Construction would begin after spring 2017, and the facility would open sometime in late 2018, according to plans from design company DLR Group.

The bond measure was the third time in less than two decades Crook County voters were asked to approve a bond for a new jail. In 1999 and 2000, voters rejected $8.9 million bond measures that would have funded the construction of a new jail. Those bonds would have cost county residents 80 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for a 141-bed jail; the bond that passed Tuesday would cost 22 cents per $1,000.

With its 76 planned beds — along with the infrastructure to add a future second level of cells to double capacity — the new jail gives the county much-needed space to house inmates it doesn’t currently have room for.

— Reporter: 541-617-7829,

awest@bendbulletin.com