GUTHRIE COUNTY, Iowa — For nearly 10 years, Guthrie County Sheriff Mary Arganbright has held out hope for a new jail facility.
The current jail is tucked within the same building as the Sheriff's office and the Guthrie County Courthouse, located in cramped quarters right next to the Sheriff's dispatch team.
Since it's not up to code, the Guthrie County jail could be shut down if a new one isn't built.
In January, Local 5 spoke with current inmates inside the jail about their living conditions.
Many said they have to sleep on the floor because the space gets so crowded.
Related to this story: Inmates speak to Local 5 about conditions of Guthrie County Jail
Monday, on the eve of the vote, former inmates Shelby Brusman and Teah Marchman said they've had firsthand experience with how unsafe the jail is.
"We were actually in it together when we were juveniles," said Marchman."It's bad, there's black mold in the showers. There's black mold everywhere."
Brusman, who lives in an apartment complex right across from the jail, says she's spent time in the jail on a number of occasions--for charges ranging from drug offenses to assault.
She says the jail can get dangerous, because currently there's no way to separate violent offenders from non-violent ones.
"Everybody knows everybody," said Brusman. And a lot of people--they have backgrounds. So having them together in the same jail cell is not good."
Chief Deputy Jeremy Bennett, with the Guthrie County Sheriff's Office, says the jail's current structure isn't only unsafe for the inmates, it's unsafe for the jail staff. Because of a lack of secure entrances, deputies have to take inmates right through the dispatch area to bring them into the jail cells.
"Several times we've had altercations and ended up on the floor and up against the partition out here against the dispatchers," said Deputy Bennett.
The Sheriff's Office has held community jail tours for months. They've also posted Facebook live videos for anyone who isn't able to make it to the meetings in person.
Polls open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 pm Tuesday, March 3rd.