Kip Kendrick, Presiding Commissioner

Justin Aldred, District I Commissioner

Janet Thompson, District II Commissioner

Roger B. Wilson

Boone County Government Center

801 E. Walnut St., Rm 333

Columbia, MO 65201-7732

(573) 886-4305 (573) 886-4311

Boone County Commission News Release

Boone County Commission to Consider Addition of 15-Year Sunset to Prop L Ballot Issue

COLUMBIA, Mo. (July 9, 2026) - On Thursday, July 9, the Boone County Commission will consider a proposal regarding the addition of a 15-year sunset to the 3/8 cent Prop L sales tax enhancement that will appear on the November 3 ballot to fund the construction of a new Boone County Jail.

If approved, the Prop L enhancement ballot issue will include a sunset date of December 31, 2042. Projections indicate revenue collected during the 15 years prior to the sunset will cover the bond payments for the initial build out of a new facility; help fund anticipated increases of operational costs as well as ongoing out-of-county detainee housing costs until the new facility opens; and provide an opportunity to set back the initial funds necessary for the future phase 2 construction, should court-ordered detainment trends continue in the coming years.

Due to the high number of court orders requiring defendants to be held in the Boone County Jail, coupled with limited space in the current jail, Boone County is consistently housing more detainees in out-of-county jails than in the Boone County Jail. Depending on detainee classifications and other various circumstances, the current Boone County Jail is only capable of housing around 190 detainees. As of July 7, 2026, 202 of the 405 Boone County detainees were being housed at locations other than the Boone County Jail to include County jails in at least 14 different counties across the state of Missouri. The cost to Boone County for out-of-county detainee housing has drastically increased in the recent past, climbing from $499,000 in 2022 to over $2.5 million in 2025. With over $1 million spent to house detainees out-of-county during the first quarter of 2026, the projections for this year and the trajectory they show are unsustainable. The Commission and Boone County Auditor are anticipating potential budget cuts to other cost centers in FY27 as out-of-county housing expenditures are significantly outpacing revenue growth.

Should the ballot measure be approved by voters, the initial construction would provide a new jail with approximately 570 beds to meet the detainee housing demands on Boone County, would be designed to better accommodate the increasing number of detainees experiencing mental health issues, and would be constructed in a manner to accommodate phases of expansion as needed. Ultimately, the initial construction of the new jail would take a minimum of four years for completion and would be a long-term investment in Boone County designed to accommodate at least three additional phases of expansion spanning decades if necessary.

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