Boone County Jail Tax

Boone County voters will decide in November whether to approve a public safety sales tax to fund a new county jail.

Proposition L would impose a three-eighths-cent sales tax for 15 years, generating up to 255 million dollars for a proposed 570-bed facility.

Sheriff Dwayne Carey says the new jail would address overcrowding and reduce the need to house detainees outside the county.

But opponents with the group No New Jail say the money should instead support mental health services, community programs and alternatives to incarceration.

If approved, construction could begin in spring 2028, with the facility opening by 2030.