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Debate begins about expanding or relocating Williamson County jail, justice center

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Published  August 31, 2024 9:29pm CDT
Williamson County
FOX 7 Austin

Debate over Wilco jail, justice center

The debate on whether to relocate or expand the Williamson County Jail and Justice Center has begun. The county is expecting an almost 200% population increase over the next two decades.

The Brief

    • Wilco commissioners weighing moving or expanding jail, justice center
    • Population expected to grow by 192 percent in the next 20 years
    • County to revisit discussion in October

GEORGETOWN, Texas - This month, Williamson County began publicly weighing whether the jail and justice center should expand in downtown Georgetown or relocate entirely.

In the next 20 years, the county is expecting its population to grow to 1.4 million people, a 192 percent increase.
That will mean more inmates and more court cases for the county judicial system.

Williamson County will have to keep its judicial system in the county seat’s city limits, which is in Georgetown, so it could expand right where it already is.

"We can see now where we are may not be everybody’s favorite place, but for 175 years, the downtown that you love, a lot of parts of Georgetown occurred because the county conducted its business here," said Pct. 4 Commissioner Russ Boles.

A report presented to commissioners said the jail and justice center, which are right next to each other, will need tens of thousands of more square feet to meet capacity.

"I just don’t know that I want that to be the entire downtown skyline of one of our cities," said County Judge Bill Gravell.

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On a Saturday afternoon, downtown Georgetown is bustling with visitors like Lissbeth Bayona.

"We kind of wanted to just visit a small town because we kind of live like in a big city," said Bayona.

Several shoppers FOX 7 Austin spoke with but did not want to go on camera said they wouldn’t mind if the jail and justice center expanded downtown. Bayona points out it could distract from the charm of the area.

"It would definitely take like from the aesthetics of the town, I think because it looks cozy, and if the nicest building is the jail or the tallest building is the jail it could draw that attention more and take away a little bit from the town," said Bayona.

Another option is to move the jail and justice center entirely.

Commissioners even looked at land next to the new headquarters that’s currently under construction, but because of limited land space, it may not be the best fit for commissioners.

The county will revisit the conversation in October. 

If commissioners decide to relocate the buildings, it could cost up to $715 million. Whatever the county decides, the goal is to have more space available by 2050.