After 22 years in the same spot on Church Street in Prince Frederick, the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office is embarking on a search for a new location for its headquarters.
On Tuesday, the county commissioners voted unanimously to direct government staff to identify a new location for the sheriff’s office and incorporate plans for a new facility in the capital improvement plan.
Mark Willis, county administrator, said the 21,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1919, originally serving as a hospital. The structure has also been used as a nursing care facility and a private office building.
The county purchased the building and it was retrofitted to serve as the sheriff’s office headquarters. The sheriff’s office located there in 2002 after many years of occupying office space in the county courthouse.
Willis said his office along with the public works department “has undertaken an exhaustive examination of the entirety of the county government buildings and facilities. Through this comprehensive review it has been unequivocally determined that the continued upkeep and escalating maintenance expenditures of the existing sheriff’s headquarters is not economically viable for the county.”
The county administrator presented visual evidence to the commissioners of a building replete with such maladies as structural deficiencies, air quality control issues, mold and mildew, basement flooding and evidence of components that are not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
“It’s not if we do this,” Willis said. “It’s how soon we place a level of urgency on it to do it now versus later.”
Willis revealed that Mike Evans, former sheriff, had requested consideration for moving the agency to a new building but had agreed to a “five-year wait.”
Backing up county government staff affirmation that now is the time to take action on relocating the sheriff’s office were findings from an architectural consultant contracted by public works.
Calvert Sheriff Ricky Cox (R) told the commissioners he was concerned about “workplace conditions” in the current building.
“We’ve had a couple of areas we could move to and my goal is to save the taxpayers money,” Cox said. “I’ve told you before I don’t need an extravagant building.”
After the board’s meeting, Cox told Southern Maryland News he does not believe there will be a need for the county to purchase land for a news sheriff’s headquarters.
In addition to the health and safety of sheriff’s office personnel, Cox said he is concerned about having to store crime scene evidence and seized property in a basement area that is prone to flooding.
“Really, with the mold issues, with the spongy floors, it’s not only a health hazard for your employees, it’s a facility that is just waiting for an accident to happen,” Commissioner Catherine M. Grasso (R) said.
“Mold and ventilation, to me that’s the biggest issue,” Thomas Jones, public Vworks’ general services deputy director, said.
“The building doesn’t owe us a thing,” Commissioner Mike Hart (R) stated.
While county government staff will now move forward identifying a new location, a specific timeline for the plan was not divulged during the meeting.
Sheriff’s office district stations openIn the meantime, a pair of Calvert County Sheriff’s Office district stations in Dunkirk and Lusby have been established to provide greater efficiency in law enforcement operations and enable deputies to be more accessible and present in communities and around the county.
With locations in the northern and southern ends of the county, the new district stations will allow citizens the opportunity to make reports and access law enforcement services, as well as conduct child exchanges and other business in a more central location, alleviating the need to travel to the headquarters in Prince Frederick.
The Dunkirk District Station is located at 10500 Southern Maryland Boulevard. The Lusby District Station is located at 11780 HG Trueman Road. For more information about Calvert County Sheriff’s Office services, go to www.calvertcountymd.gov/368/Sheriffs-Office.
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