The future of the Guthrie County Jail is in voters’ hands in about a month, and the public is encouraged to attend one of the upcoming information meetings to learn about the purpose of the March 3rd bond referendum and its effect on taxpayers.

The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff’s Office, as well as the project architect and manager, and financial director are hosting these meetings at locations across the County so the public can learn about the safety and financial ramifications of not building a new law enforcement center, and calculate how the $8.7 million referendum would affect their property taxes. Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright says the current jail has been at or over capacity for some time, “Our jail’s full, it has been full for over a year, we’re spending more time transporting the inmates back and forth which takes personnel away from the County that could be out patrolling the County. And it’s just not gotten better and I can foresee that it’s going to continue that way.”

Arganbright adds his office has had to transport all of its female inmates to surrounding counties. This week’s meetings will take place at the Panora Community Building at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and at the Bayard Community Building at 10 a.m. and the Whiterock Conservancy Visitor Center at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. You can find the full schedule of meetings, view a virtual tour of the proposed facility, and find more information on the referendum by visiting here. Absentee balloting begins on February 3rd for the special election taking place March 3rd.