The deal was already struck. It's a new 600-bed lockup to be built on a piece of land near Pelley Road and new Kentucky 17, near the Liberty Orchard subdivision and the Summit View middle and elementary schools.
The Independence, KY neighbors not keen on the idea took their battle to court. Showing up in number, a class action lawsuit has been filed seeking to prevent the county from closing on the sale.
The rhetoric was intense with the lawyer representing the plaintiffs alleging that the site was secretly selected in a process akin to a Central Intelligence Agency operation, and saying:
"I have never seen a government of the people, by the people, for the people, ram something down local citizen's throat in a manner more arrogant and disdainful as they are doing."
Indeed, it can get sensitive as the case also claims that the public was shut out of the selection process, but it is ultimately the taxpayers who pay for such projects.
In fact, new arguments cropped up. Residents would suggest to take the land the jail would be on and secede that area to make it part of Boone County. Another option: Since Covington has the most arrests of all the cities in Covington, the additional travel time will not be worth it.
Some residents also challenge the judge-executive's right to buy or sell real estate. However, some lawyers think only county commissioners have the authority to do that.
But the County argued that they didn't want to make this an issue of emotion or politics and ruled that closing on the property was legal. Circuit judge Gregory Bartlett was quoted as saying "it would not harm homeowners, so the sale will go through."
A hearing on the lawsuit to block a jail is set for January 2007. If things go well the County’s way, construction could begin in 2008 with the jail set to open 2 or 3 years after that.