def #300 11/12/08
COUNTY GETS READY TO START WORK ON JAIL EXPANSION
TOMS RIVER – Ocean County is getting ready to start work on the 157,000 square foot addition to the Ocean
County Jail on Hooper Avenue.
“This project is a very large undertaking and will take about two years to complete,” said Freeholder John P. Kelly,
who serves as Director of Law and Public Safety. “We will make every effort to minimize any inconvenience the
construction may pose.”
The most apparent change to the area while construction is under way will be a reduction of county employee parking
and to a lesser extent some public parking. Fencing has also been installed around the construction site.
“To accommodate the work we had to reduce some of the parking in the rear of the Ocean County Courthouse and near the
Justice Complex,” Kelly said. “However, there continues to be plenty of parking available in the Ocean County parking
garage.”
The garage is located on Madison and Hadley avenues just a short distance from the justice complex. Visitors parking
in the garage can access the Justice Complex by using the overhead walkway across Hooper Avenue. The jail is located
on the fourth and fifth floors of the Justice Complex.
As part of the construction, the county is relocating the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post from its building on the
corner of Sheriffs Street and Courthouse Lane to a new facility across the street.
“This had to be done to accommodate the addition,” Kelly said. “We know the veterans organization will be very pleased
when that work is done and they are in their new building.”
Because the new jail cells are prefabricated units, areas of downtown Toms River will be used for brief periods as
staging areas until all the units have been installed into the addition.
Once the prefabricated cells are installed the addition will look complete but all the interior work will then get
started.
“This construction is not expected to disrupt the work that goes on in the Justice Complex, which also houses
courtrooms, the Sheriff’s Department and other offices,” Kelly said. “The construction of the jail expansion is
relatively self-contained.”
Kelly noted the county has been closely working with officials from Toms River Township and the Toms River Business
Improvement District to make sure those most impacted are informed of what will occur during construction.
Earlier this year, the county awarded a contract to New Enterprise Stone and Lime Company, Inc. of Pennsylvania in the
amount of $15,150,000, for the housing units.
By pre-ordering the units the county will have them available when they need to be installed and saved money
for ordering them early.
In addition, the county awarded the overall construction contract to
Patock Construction of Tinton Falls The apparent low bidder came in at $36,690,000, which is within the county’s
budget for the project.
The county plans to add space for an additional 400 beds, which would increase the jail capacity to 680 beds.
The proposed expansion includes the construction of new space at the rear of the Justice Complex and a
two-story addition on the south side of the existing building.
According to a needs assessment completed in 2005, since 1985 when the Board of Freeholders opened the jail
atop the Ocean County Justice Complex, the County’s population has increased by almost 200,000 people. Since that
time period, new mandatory sentencing laws have gone into effect resulting in longer jail terms; municipalities have
employed more police officers resulting in an increase in patrols and arrests.
The combination of both increasing admissions at the Ocean County Jail and increased average length of stay has
created a higher average daily population at the jail according to the study done by Carter Goble Associates, Inc.
The current average population at the facility routinely exceeds more than 500 inmates while the jail was built to
hold 280.
