MACON, Ga. — Bibb County could be a bit closer to getting a new jail.
The building has been plagued with problems in recent years where conditions have led to controversy and deaths. To really understand the jail's troubles, let's go back to 2017. That's when a grand jury inspected the jail.
It was a yearly inspection, as required by Georgia law.
The grand jury recommended Macon-Bibb County demolish the jail on Oglethorpe Street and build a whole new jail. Their report noted overcrowding, understaffing and cell doors that wouldn't lock.
Four years later, in April 2021, Deputy Christopher Knight was stabbed while moving an inmate. Current and former jailers told 13WMAZ the conditions in that 2017 report were similar to the conditions in 2021.
After Knight's death, the county set aside $3 million to make improvements. Earlier this year, Maj. Eric Woodford with the Bibb County Sheriff's Office told 13WMAZ they made great progress in fixing cell doors and installing shatter-proof lighting.
"We also used it as 'what not to do,' or how to train from this, or a reminder to our younger deputies to make sure that we're doing things the way that we should do them," Woodford explained.
Through it all, county leaders like Sheriff David Davis have acknowledged the fixes are like putting Band-Aids on a bigger issue.
Now, County Spokesman Chris Floore says a new jail is one of the top priorities in the next SPLOST. That stands for 'Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.' In Macon-Bibb County, the SPLOST is good for 10 years, and the county can collect up to $280 million.
That money goes toward completing projects around the county.
Right now, it's going toward things like updates at the Macon City Auditorium and fixes to the courthouse. None of that money can go toward the jail since voters didn't approve that in the last SPLOST vote.
So, the best fit for it would be the next one.
Floore says it's still too early to decide the next list of SPLOST projects, but he says it's likely the best option for the county to afford a major project. Floore expects it would cost around $80 million.
Last year, Mayor Lester Miller said he believed the conversation of a new jail could come next year at the earliest. At the time, the county projected a new SPLOST in 2026.