Forsyth sheriff applauds land purchase for new jail

CUMMING: Forsyth County moved closer last week to getting a new jail and sheriff's headquarters and that was encouraging news for Sheriff Ted Paxton.

Commissioners agreed to buy a 33-acre tract of land on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Cumming for $7.1-million.

Sheriff Paxton says the county outgrew the present jail , now 30 years old, sometime ago.

"We have continued to grow and it has become a real financial burden on the county to house prisoners in other jails," Paxton said.

Before a new jail can be built, county voters would have to okay a bond referendum,slated to go on the July 2008 primary election ballot.

The Sheriff said he hopes they keep in mind why the county needs a new facility.

"We can only hold 134 prisoners under our roof; for the last year we've been housing some 200 or more out in other jails," Paxton said.

A sixty-five million dollar bond referendum for a new jail failed three years ago but the county did not have a site secured for it.