A law enforcement center project has been given the green light by Guthrie County voters in Tuesday’s special election.

The referendum asking voters whether the County should enter into a loan agreement to issue $8.7 million in general obligation bonds passed with an overwhelming majority of 80.6% of the vote. The unofficial results show 2,067 votes were counted with 1,666 voting in favor of the project and 401 voting against.

It was a victory for Sheriff Marty Arganbright, who said he not only wanted to get the referendum passed in one election, he wanted it to have an 80-percent majority. Arganbright shares what it took to convince the public it was time to replace the nearing 60-year-old jail, “Starting with the Supervisors to get behind it which they all did to convince the public and all the public meetings we had and all the media that helped us with this and we put it out there, we put it out on radio and newspapers and all kinds of things, videos that we put out there on Facebook and everything helped. I mean we did all we can do.”

Arganbright awaited the results Tuesday night with several of his office staff, county supervisors, and those from project manager the Samuels Group and design firm Shive-Hattery. He says he feels relieved to no longer have the stress of continuing to operate in an outgrown facility which violated state code, and he and his staff are excited for the new jail that will be able to hold up to 32 inmates with five classification units, and provide safe conditions for the staff and the public that visit the law enforcement center and courthouse. The election results are unofficial until a canvass by the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors next Tuesday.