MINOT, N.D. (KFGO-AM) - Residents of Ward County are deciding whether to approve an addition $37 million in borrowing to further expand the jail and renovate the courthouse.
If voters approve the measure in Tuesday's special election, total bonding authority for the project would approach nearly $80 million.
County voters in 2012 approved about $40 million in bonding for a 50-cell jail expansion. But the number of inmates has grown along with the population in the region on the edge of the booming western oil patch.
State Corrections officials late last year ordered the county to address the crowding problems in the jail. If voters approve, the jail expansion will be increased to 100 new cells.