by Dennis Dalman
Stearns County residents will have a chance to walk through (virtually, that is) the future Stearns County Justice Center at a public-engagement session from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30 at the Great River Regional Library, Room 104, 1300 W. St. Germain St.
There was a similar session previously held in Cold Spring City Hall and one slated for the Freeport Community Center from 5:30-7:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 16.
The session is a public open house where those who attend can walk around, view plans and speak with county commissioners and county staff. There will also be a virtual walk-through of the planned facility that will make participants feel as if they are walking through the actual building.
Architects revealed a preliminary design for the building in January, then redesigned the plan and presented it to the County Board of Commissioners in late January. The second plan eliminated a fifth floor, a savings of 27,501 feet, shaving off about $11 million from the estimated total of up to $308 million.
In the Nov. 5 election, voters approved a 3/8-cent countywide sales tax to pay for most of the costs of the huge project. More changes, including possibly cost-saving provisions, could still be added to the project.
The structure will likely be about 482,000 square feet, with 270 jail beds, 11 courtrooms, a law library, sheriff’s office, county attorney’s office, emergency-management headquarters and other justice-related spaces. It will also contain an inmate health-care unit, offices and training areas for the sheriff’s department.
The building will have a rotunda entrance, a dome-like feature, granite pillars and marble-and-granite finishing details in its most public areas.
The Justice Center will replace the one currently in downtown St. Cloud, which has been determined by a state study to be inadequate for the county’s present needs and growing needs in the future.
Property acquisition for the Justice Center is currently underway. County staff are now considering a 78-acre site off CR 75 and CR 134. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2026.
This is an artist’s conception of how the proposed Stearns County Justice Center might look like, based on the current design plan.
