Sibley, IA (KICD)– The preliminary planning stage is underway to construct a new jail in Osceola County after voters approved a bond measure in November to help replace the current structure.

Sheriff Kevin Wollmuth went before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday with a set of plans that would essentially separate the jail from the existing Sheriff’s Office.

Overall, the plan is to keep the new jail roughly the same size as the current facility that is more than a century old but the big focus will be to upgrade both usefulness and safety.

By agreeing to the new plans the Supervisors will make it possible for Osceola County to continue housing inmates during construction before then using the old facility for another purpose in the future.

No exact timetable has been set forth on the jail project, but Sheriff Wollmuth has been told ground could be broken in the Fall.