Why did voters not support?

1. New Tax rejected – find another way to pay for the jail
2. Concern with 2022 purchase of church property
3. Don’t like jails (don’t coddle criminals)
4. Millage costs too high ($32 million)
5. Millage plan too vague
6. Millage plan is the wrong one – does not address courthouse, other issues
7. Too many doubts on millage plan

Upon the failure of the August 2026 ballot, the County Board has moved forward to address the seven issues above through three new jail committees.

• Jail Committee
• County-Held Properties Committee
• Sharon Avenue and Jail Property-Use Committee

How will these committees address voters’ concerns?

#1 Taxes – find another way to pay. 

• County-Held Properties Committee formed to look into county assets
• Jail Committee formed; one issue they are investigating is Federal funding; also looking into reducing the cost/scope of the jail plan

#2 Purchase-of-church concerns

• $1.2 million purchase 10-11-2022; 6 acres
• Assessed as worth more than the purchase price ($1.28 million)
•  ARPA funds used ($6.9million total was received from the Federal government)
• Search for property began in December 2019 after 2018 Task Force looked into reasons for failure of millage and recommended the jail be built in Houghton City but not downtown;  progress on identifying and purchasing a location experienced COVID-19 delays.
• Sharon Avenue property selected and annexed to County in June 2024 (formerly Portage Twp).  Actions on this purchase occurred in County Board meetings (public meetings; see online minutes)
• Jail Committee will look into revising the Jail plan (location, scope, all topics on the table); the Sharon Avenue and Jail Property-Use Committee is looking at issues related to the Sharon Avenue property

#3 Don’t like jails

• Workplace safety is an issue
• Crowded jails are dangerous jails
• Required of all counties in Michigan
• Key part of our criminal justice system
• Not all who are detained are “criminals”
• Not currently able to detain juveniles locally
• Jail Committee will look into improving communications with the public on jails.

#4 Too high of cost at $32 million

• A real opportunity to make the plan more specific (Jail Committee following up)

#5 Too vague of a plan

• A real opportunity to make the plan more specific (Jail Committee following up)

#6 Wrong plan

• A real opportunity to address future plans for Courthouse, current jail, etc. (Sharon Avenue & Jail Property-Use Committee, Jail Committee both following up)
• Again, a real opportunity to make the plan more specific (Jail Committee following up)

#7 Too Many Doubts

• A real opportunity to communicate better with and hear from the public (All committees following up)

 Three New Committees

• Jail Committee (Jared Hyrkas, chair)
• County-Held Properties Committee (Commissioner Joel Keranen, chair)
• Sharon Avenue and Jail Property-Use Committee (Commissioner Tom Tikkanen, chair)
• Check houghtoncounty.net/2026 Jail Project – agendas, meetings, minutes of the three committees are here, as are historical jail-project materials from 2018 and 2025

 Meetings/Discussions Coming Up

For up-to-date information, see the News section of the HoughtonCounty.net