The Iowa City City Council passed a resolution to move forward with a joint law enforcement facility in partnership with Johnson County in a 4-3 vote, despite pushback and disapproval from the public Tuesday. 

Iowa City and Johnson County have been looking to build a joint law enforcement facility instead of holding separate buildings for jailing, which could save taxpayers around $10 million, according to the City of Iowa City Action Report. 

City leaders, City Manager Geoff Fruin, and City Attorney Eric Goers, want to keep working with the county to plan the project while the city council stays in charge of key decisions.

The current Johnson County jail has experienced aging infrastructure and high costs of outsourcing inmates. This has prompted county leaders to seek public input on whether to replace the jail.

The council voted in favor of the resolution by a narrow margin. However, some councilors, such as District A Councilor Laura Bergus and District C Councilor Oliver Weilein agreed with the general public, saying the project should not pass, as a joint law enforcement facility effectively lowers the voter approval threshold for a new jail, allowing it to move forward with just a simple majority.

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Bergus suggested lowering the threshold for the facility to be approved by voters to 50 percent plus one instead of 60 percent plus one. This is due to the fact that the 60 plus one threshold has been one the Iowa City community has historically not supported.

Clara Reynen, an Iowa City resident, voiced her opinion against a joint facility, stating she would lose trust in the Iowa City police department if they join with Johnson County.

“I understand that by joining together, we wouldn’t be combining operations, but I’ve been saying it’s a lot like when you have a messy roommate — as you’re together, you pick up on each other’s habits, and it’s really easy to pick up on bad habits,” she said.  

Councilor At-Large Josh Moe said he was in favor of the resolution as it isn’t actually approving the construction of the facility. He said the city council members should look into next steps as an opportunity for the city to save money. 

“It’s going to be hard, but I think we should do things that are hard because that’s what the community demands of us,” he said. “The reason we should do hard things is because ultimately, this goes to the voters.”