Absentee voting is available for Guthrie County’s bond referendum for an $8.7 million law enforcement center and courthouse parking lot improvement project.

The special election takes place March 3rd, and mail-in ballots will start being sent this week to those who have already submitted an absentee request. The last day to request a ballot by mail is February 21st, and residents can submit an absentee ballot at the County Auditor’s Office during regular business hours from now until 5 p.m. March 2nd. Mailed absentee ballots must be received by noon March 9th, but must be postmarked by March 2nd.

Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright says that the operational savings of building and operating a new facility versus the existing facility is about $2.17 million over 30 years. The referendum needs a super majority of 60% to pass, and if it fails to pass, Arganbright’s persistence won’t stop there, “If it doesn’t pass we’ll have to continue to try to get a referendum to pass. The cost will go up every year we delay this project that will have to happen or we will be closed down. It costs probably another four to five hundred thousand dollars just for inflation, so I think that it would be cost effective if we could do it as soon as we could. It should have been done 10 years ago for half the price but inflation happens every year so, the sooner the better.”

Reasons for a new facility include safety risks, increased inmate capacity, inmate transfer costs, an aging facility, and compliance with state code. The public can learn more about the project at meetings in Bagley and Casey this week, and find more information here.