“Some of the sights, sounds and smells are the type of things we want the community to see,” says Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Cramer, as he led a tour around the jail Tuesday morning.

Cramer says this tour for the Chamber of Commerce may shed light on things Cramer says the jail desperately needs.

"They were amazed at the amount of inmates we currently have back in this facility, the lack of staffing as we walked around, they were moving inmates, they were getting ready for court,” says Cramer.

Some who went on the tour say they never realized the jail operates at near capacity and with outdated security systems.

"It was kind of an eye-opening experience,” says Pastor Eric Nielsen of the First Presbyterian Church in Eau Claire. “Our jail has a lot of problems. I was kind of surprised some of the space issues, surprised by some of the safety issues not only for the inmates, but for the officers and staffing issues."

But while Nielsen says he supports a referendum to let the public decide if downtown or off-site would be the best justice center option, he says he's not sure yet how he'll vote.

"I'm not convinced one way or another. Obviously, they need to do something,” he says.

Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce President Bob McCoy says he's in favor of keeping the jail downtown because he says its expansion will help in the revitalization of the area.

The possible referendum would only be advisory, to let the county board know the public's opinion on whether to build downtown or off-site. It would not be the final decision on where to build.

The County Board expects to decide whether a referendum is needed at its meeting next Tuesday.