A special committee created to deal with Eau Claire County’s stalled jail project says it needs more time.

The Jail Space and Site Needs Committee originally planned to make its recommendations to the County Board by next week. But, that won’t happen.

Thursday night, the committee voted to request an extension through April 2nd. The County Board will vote on that request later this month.

The special 15-person jail committee first met in September of last year – after the county decided to re-think its courthouse and jail expansion project.

Chair Colleen Bates says she believes the committee is about halfway through what it hoped to accomplish.

"In the beginning of this we were really and truly looking at both site and size,” Bates said. “I think the size issue has been pretty well determined along with some other tentative things that need to be considered."

Bates says the next step is figuring out the best place to put a new jail – be it next to the Chippewa River as originally proposed or somewhere else in the county.

The committee went over seven possible locations at Thursday’s meeting, but left without making a decision. The committee plans to rate each option for certain criteria and discuss those findings at its next meeting on January 22nd.

Bates says all options for a new jail need to accommodate a 1% increase per year in the secure population.