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Cornerstone laid at newly completed $127M Greene County jail 

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A cornerstone dedication ceremony was followed by tours this morning at the newly completed $127 million Greene County Sheriff’s Office and Jail. 

Located at 5100 W. State Highway EE, just south of the Springfield-Branson National Airport, the building puts the Sheriff’s Office under one roof. 

“Now we’re able to kind of have all operations, the jail, everything, in one facility,” said Sheriff Jim Arnott in an interview after the ceremony. “I have 621 employees, and where I was at before I had like 25-30. Now I can come in and have a better connection to everybody.” 

The jail will be fully functional in about a month, with prisoners to be moved by June 1, though the date of the transfer is not being disclosed for security reasons, according to Greene County Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon. 

“This is a great day of celebration for the county and for the citizens,” Dixon said. “Having the Sheriff’s Office under one roof for the first time in 40 years is really a good thing for us.” 

Both Dixon and Arnott stressed the cost savings to be realized in the new jail. 

“Instead of being on multiple floors, where we would have had to replicate staff, since the facility is spread out we can use the indirect supervision model,” Dixon said. “That actually saves about $95 million over 20 years.” 

In November, Arnott had reported a need to hire 135 detention officers. He has gained some ground since then. 

“Today we’re short 63, which is a lot better than we have been,” he said. 

He is reviewing 15 applications now, he said. 

The new jail offers face-to-face contact for Sheriff’s Office workers, Arnott said. Detectives will work next to the patrol division, with training right on the premises. 

“That’s something we’ve never experienced,” he said. “We’ve always been envious of other departments that get to do everything together. Now we’re going to be able to do that.” 

Currently, there are about 800 inmates in the old county lockup awaiting transfer to the new facility. Last year, the daily population averaged 1,000 per day, Arnott said. There are 1,242 beds available, up from 709 at the current site. 

J.E. Dunn Construction Group Inc. and DeWitt & Associates Inc. led construction for the 330,000-square-foot project designed by nForm Architecture LLC, according to past reporting. 

Today’s facility dedication was a traditional cornerstone ceremony led by Ty G. Treutalaar, grand master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. The ceremony included a ritual for ensuring the cornerstone was square, level and plumb, with a mixing of corn, wine and oil. 

Ceremony participants explained the elements as symbols of truth, justice and brotherly love for all who enter the facility, with corn representing prosperity, wine representing goodness and oil representing peace. 

The Willard choir performed the National Anthem and “God Bless America” during the event. 

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