The University of Iowa Student Government officially expressed its support for the proposed Johnson County justice center Tuesday evening, although several senators opposed the endorsement.

The resolution endorsing the proposed center passed with only two “nay” votes.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said the current jail was not adequate for the county’s needs.

“We simply don’t have enough room for people who get arrested,” he said. “We can’t provide a safe and secure environment for them and our staff.”

As previously reported by The Daily Iowan, the current jail was built in 1981; it has a capacity of 92 inmates but sees an average of 160-170 inmates coming into the jail per day. Johnson County has been paying $1.3 million per year to send these inmates to other counties, and Pulkrabek says the proposed justice center would be able to contain those inmates, and more.

“We want something that will allow the growth of Johnson County for the next 10 or 20 years,” he said. “It’s no different from grocery shopping; people don’t get groceries two or three times a day, you plan for weeks in advance.”