VAN BUREN (KFSM) -- The new $20 million dollar Crawford County Detention Center is near completion.
County officials opened doors to the facility on Monday (July 18) for a tour.
The new facility is expected to relieve overcrowding issues, which the county has faced for years.
"The reason why we had to do this was because of the fact we were overcrowded, and also because the state of Arkansas abrogated their responsibility," said Crawford County Judge John Hall.
The current detention center, built in 1989, has had a continuous problem of overcrowding, an inadequate medical facility, storage and wasn't able to meet some state requirements which lead to probation periods.
In May 2014, voters approved a 3/4 percent sales tax to fund the construction, maintenance and operations of the new detention center.
The new facility in Van Buren on Highway 64 will house 300 inmates, a 911 dispatching center and offices for the sheriff's department. The facility sits on a 16-acre lot bought for a little under $500,000. By comparison, the current jail only holds 88 inmates.
Hall said the new jail will likely be fully operational in January 2016 and is currently $1 million under budget.
"We are going to wind up with only seven years of debt," he said. "It will pay itself off in seven years."