Methodology

Primary sources

All data on this site is drawn from official documents: the Johnson County Sheriff's Office monthly control sheets, Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing jail inspection reports, Johnson County Board of Supervisors meeting minutes and agenda packets (accessed via the County's Granicus archive), Johnson County budget documents (FY24–FY27), and consultant reports obtained from the County's website or via open-records requests.

The Sheriff's Office publishes annual jail statistics in two formats: "Weekly Jail Statistics Summary" PDFs (FY15–FY20, with daily detail) and "Control Sheet" PDFs (FY21–present, with monthly summary). All ADP figures on this site are computed from these primary documents.

Column-swap warning (FY15 and FY16 source PDFs)

The "INMATES IN J.C. JAIL" and "HOUSED ELSEWHERE" column labels in the top summary table of the FY14FY15 and FY15FY16 Weekly Statistics Summary PDFs are reversed relative to the daily-detail tables that follow. Values used on this site are from the daily-detail legend, which is canonical. This is documented in the source manifest.

What "ADP" means on this site

"In-house ADP" means the average number of people held physically present at 511 S. Capitol Street, Iowa City (the Johnson County Jail) per day, computed from the 6 a.m. location report or equivalent. "Total in-custody ADP" means in-house plus out-of-county housed prisoners plus electronic monitor participants, as reported in the Sheriff's control sheets.

The CSSI fact sheet figure of "86 ADP" is consistent with the calendar year 2024 ADP, calculated from FY2024 and FY2025 control sheets. The fact sheet itself does not specify how the number is calculated.

ADP data — March 2026 update

In July 2026 the March 2026 Sheriff's control sheet was added to the dataset, extending ADP records through March 2026. The 12-month window (April 2025–March 2026) shows a mean total in-custody ADP of approximately 89.6 and a peak of approximately 97.03 in July 2025. Analysis of what this means for the capacity argument is on the Overview page.

Open-records requests

Documents obtained via open-records requests are identified as such in source citations and tracked on the Records page. Originals are available for download where noted.

Inflation adjustment

Bond amounts in the history section are adjusted to 2026 dollars using the Turner Construction Cost Index (CCI), which is the industry-standard index for construction cost escalation and is the index cited in Shive-Hattery's own cost estimates.

Bond amortization — term and rate assumptions

Debt-service figures on this site use the county's financing matrix: "summary of options with tax impacts 2026-07-23 v2," prepared with Piper Sandler & Co. and included in the July 29, 2026 work-session packet (Granicus clip 3736). Where a single scenario is required, the site uses the 12-year row (final maturity June 1, 2039; estimated yield 4.31%; all-in cost 4.45%; total interest $30,206,135; $88.00 annually per $100,000 of taxable value), because that is the scenario Chair Green and Supervisor Sullivan announced on August 5, 2026 and the source of the published $88.00 figure. The term binds nothing: it appears in no adopted document, Iowa Code §76.1 permits up to 20 years from issue, and §76.2's levy resolution naming an actual period comes after the election. Ranges are shown where the term choice changes the conclusion.

The matrix computes tax impacts against the FY27 debt-service taxable valuation of $11,810,397,592 (matching the FY27 Tax Calculation Worksheet) with zero assumed valuation growth for the full term. The same worksheets show actual debt-service-base growth of 3.57% (FY26) and 4.71% (FY27); the published per-$100,000 figure is therefore a first-year ceiling, not a term average. The residential rollback used for actual-value conversions is 47.4316%, the value embedded in the county's online tax calculator. This site distinguishes throughout between taxable value (post-rollback, the basis of every county computation) and actual value (the §441.21 market-value basis §331.442 requires for the published notice); the county's notice does not.

Prior to August 2026, this site used a 10-year, 4.5% level-payment assumption based on the June 10, 2026 work session ($107/$100K). The county's July 29 packet superseded it: the $107 was Finance Director Aschenbrenner's deliberately conservative pro-forma (10-year, 5.5% APR compounded monthly), described in his own summary as a "ceiling," not a financing plan. Figures on this site were restated to the matrix basis on August 11, 2026; see [U.17] below.

Claims registers — extraction and basis

Payment figures on this site tied to the jail project were extracted from the weekly claims registers attached as item C.1.a to Board of Supervisors formal-meeting packets on the County's Granicus archive: "Supplier Invoice Payments" lists in the Workday era (October 9, 2025–present) and "Account Distribution" registers in the Innoprise era (January 2, 2025–September 18, 2025). Every register reconciles to the totals printed in its packet.

The basis is the payment/register date (cash), not accrual. These figures will differ slightly from the County's accrual actuals, and the site labels payment-basis figures as such wherever both bases exist. No claims registers were published for September 25 and October 2, 2025, during the Innoprise-to-Workday ERP cutover; the October 9, 2025 register is a catch-up batch. The February 5, 2026 register was published as image-only pages and was recovered by OCR; it reconciles exactly to its printed totals ($1,508,192.43 supplier invoices / $1,644.46 previously-approved / $811.20 expense reports).

Corrections log

• [C.1] 2026-07-03: Retired any framing that total ADP has remained "under 92 every year." The County's March 2026 control sheet shows the 12-month window April 2025–March 2026 averaged ~89.6, with a peak of ~97.03 in July 2025 — exceeding the State Inspector's 92-bed permanent capacity figure in multiple months. ADP text on the Overview and Methodology pages updated accordingly.
• [C.2] 2026-07-03: Ballot language status corrected. Earlier text stated "Formal adoption…scheduled for June 24, 2026." The July 2, 2026 formal BOS meeting (clip 3693) deferred the resolution to bond counsel; deadline is August 26, 2026. All references updated site-wide.
• [C.3] 2026-07-09: Major correction to pre-bond spending. An earlier version described the $3,230,395 stabilization figure as a construction engagement of Axiom Consultants under Resolution 11-13-25-01. The primary record shows that figure was Axiom's engineer's estimate; the resolution (November 13, 2025) only approved plans and specifications and requested bids. Four bids opened December 4, 2025 came in 43–47% below the estimate, and on January 8, 2026 the Board awarded the construction contract to Peak Construction Group for $1,885,400. Axiom is the design/engineering firm, with jail-related design payments of $294,793.64 to date. This reduces the documented pre-bond total from $4,264,601 to $2,934,399.64.
• [C.4] 2026-07-09: Removed the "$16M affordable-housing essential-purpose bond" claim. The site had characterized Resolution 04-23-26-02 (April 23, 2026) as a $16M affordable-housing bond; the record shows an omnibus intent-to-borrow resolution totaling $21,743,150 across many separate loan agreements, most of it the County's annual insurance-program financing ($15,359,450), with a $775,000 Housing Trust grant — none of it jail construction. The jail-relevant component, a ≤$600,000 Emergency Basis Building Restoration Loan for the "dilapidated County jail building," is retained on the Records and Overview pages.
• [C.5] 2026-07-09: CSSI approval date corrected from March 13 to March 27, 2025. The proposal was presented to the CJCC on February 13, 2025, discussed at the February 19, 2025 work session (price range $32,783.27–$77,295.99 quoted), and considered at the March 27, 2025 formal meeting; the agreement was signed April 9, 2025.
• [C.6] 2026-07-09: Shive-Hattery Amendment 1 total corrected from a flat $63,800 to "$63,800.00 + expenses" — an open-ended reimbursable term — per the executed amendment in the January 29, 2025 work-session packet.
• [C.7] 2026-07-09: Shive-Hattery Amendment 3 dating clarified: February 23, 2026 is the amendment's document date. The public-record chain is: discussed at the February 24, 2026 work session; considered at the March 5, 2026 formal meeting; reflected in the minutes in the March 12, 2026 packet.
• [C.8] 2026-07-09: Shive-Hattery Amendment 2 sourcing corrected. November 14, 2025 is the amendment's document date, not a Board meeting date; the Board considered it at the December 4, 2025 formal meeting. The executed document reads "$13,000.00 + expenses" and applies a −$5,190.00 credit against Amendment 1, making the effective cumulative Shive-Hattery contract value $695,610 + expenses rather than $700,800. (The document's own header line "AMENDMENT ONE DATE: November 14, 2025" is a Shive-Hattery clerical error; Amendment One is dated January 21, 2025.)
• [C.9] 2026-07-09: The Overview headline figure "$4.3M spent on consultants and planning" was corrected to $2.93M (documented commitments and payments) as a consequence of [C.3], with a component breakdown added to the headline card.
• [C.10] 2026-08-12: The Fact Check page's "ada" entry incorrectly stated the 2018 WT Group audit contained 257 findings. Corrected to 166 on the Fact Check page and in the Sources entry for the audit.

Update log

Additions and status changes that did not correct an error in previously published material.

• [U.1] 2026-07-04: Section 1 (Capacity) MissingBox updated for a status change. Prior text stated the County "is currently evaluating" the RR-003 records request for OoC housing appropriation justifications. RR-003 has since been closed: no written justification or projection was produced; the Auditor's office redirected to public budget materials and stated informally that the $960K line is held "simply to allow room in the budget for unforeseen circumstances."
• [U.2] 2026-07-04: Added detail from the purchase agreement's Land-Use Obligations article. The 350-foot vegetative buffer and the stormwater detention basin reduce the buildable area below the 35-acre gross figure (estimated low 20s of acres). The County pays a 61.04% minimum share of subdivision master grading and detention basin construction, separate from the $60,000 per acre price.
• [U.3] 2026-07-09: Added FY26 full-year and by-county out-of-county housing data on a payment/cash basis, extracted from the weekly claims registers, with a monthly stacked chart by receiving county. Provenance for all register figures is documented in the "Claims registers — extraction and basis" section above.
• [U.4] 2026-07-09: Added the three Shive-Hattery payments memo'd "Sheriff's Office Space Needs Study: referendum services" ($270,392.58 total) and the cumulative jail/SO Shive-Hattery payments visible in the registers ($345,718.33), with a new open question on what the memo covers.
• [U.5] 2026-07-09: Added CSSI payment status: $33,798.36 of the $53,406 contract paid to date, billed quarterly as "CJCC Jail and Sheriff's Office Facility Evaluation."
• [U.6] 2026-07-09: Added the $10,000 land earnest-money payment (July 9, 2026 register) to Hawkeye Title Services LC, naming IWV Holdings as the seller entity, with a watch item for the ~$2.1M balance and open questions on the seller.
• [U.7] 2026-07-09: Added the PI-GPS/ARPA program-income true-up ($84,852.24, June 17, 2025 register, "REIMBURSE ARPA FOR PROGRAM INCOME"), matched to ARPA fund revenue line 35-35-1050000-44301.
• [U.8] 2026-07-09: Added the TAC10/JailTracker renewal ($110,628.96, 24-month half-retroactive term) and the Sheriff's FY27 "Tac10 savings" decision package, with a new open question.
• [U.9] 2026-07-09: Added the "Claims registers — extraction and basis" provenance section above, and new open questions on per-diem rate sheets, transport payroll costs, and Amendment 1/2 expense billings.
• [U.10] 2026-07-21: Added a cost-per-square-foot trajectory chart to the Cost Analysis page, comparing the County's stated jail construction rates ($752.61 in August 2024, $800 in August 2025, $850 in July 2026) against the Turner Building Cost Index over the same window.
• [U.11] 2026-07-21: Added a design-minimums analysis to the Cost Analysis page, comparing Iowa Administrative Code 201—50.8 requirements (cell area, ceiling height, dayroom area, circulation) to the July 2026 schematic dimensions.
• [U.12] 2026-07-21: Added the Washington County jail inspection comparison (January 29, 2026; same inspector) and invoice-level confirmation of the $60/day inter-county housing rate to the Cost Analysis page. The January 29 and February 12, 2026 claims registers show payments of $12,900 and $6,420 to Washington County — exact integer multiples of $60/day.
• [U.13] 2026-07-21: Added the staffing-number reconciliation gap to the Cost Analysis page. Four numbers are given: 24 jail positions (Vol I baseline), 30–35 "working back in the jail" (Shive-Hattery, July 9, 2026 CJCC), 41 jail staff (January 2026 State inspection form), and ~120 Sheriff's Office employees overall (Supervisor Sullivan, July 16, 2026).
• [U.14] 2026-07-21: Added the emergency-management fallback section to the Records page: the EOC-to-"situation room" relabeling, the Sheriff's backup dispatch console request, the Iowa Code §29C.9 commission structure, and the JECC 28E board, posed as governance questions.
• [U.15] 2026-07-21: Status updates across the site: ballot language absent through July 23 (statutory deadline August 26); Piper Sandler & Co. municipal advisory agreement ($141,750) added to pre-vote spending; community engagement session schedule added (August 11 Solon, September 1 HHS, October 6 North Liberty); internal committee named as the Johnson County Sheriff's Office Planning Committee (July 16); building size updated to 118,500 SF and the jail construction rate to $850/SF.
• [U.16] 2026-07-21: Updated the Fleet Shop item. The County confirmed on July 9, 2026 that vehicle maintenance was removed from the building program because the Fleet Shop is across the street; total floor area did not change. This replaces the prior framing that the proximity went unaddressed in County documents.
• [U.17] 2026-08-11: Bond status updated site-wide: Resolution 08-06-26-03 adopted August 6, 2026, 3-2 (Remington and Fixmer-Oraiz dissenting), setting a $94,500,000 bond question for November 3, 2026. Supersedes the $96M MCIP figure. Debt-service methodology restated from the 10-year/4.5% estimate to the county's Piper Sandler maturity matrix (July 29 packet); the 12-year scenario ($30.2M interest, 4.45% all-in) is used where a single scenario is required. Derived figures updated accordingly: per-bed $788K/$675K, average annual debt service ~$10.4M, savings-claim sensitivity table, status-quo comparison.
• [U.18] 2026-08-11: Added the tax-estimate basis analysis: the adopted notice recites the $88.00 figure per $100,000 of actual value while every county computation (matrix column heading, Finance Director's summary, Chair Green's August 5 statement) is per $100,000 of taxable value; the county's calculator (rate 0.87998/$1,000, rollback 0.474316) returns $41.74 for a $100,000-assessed home. Aschenbrenner attributed the equivalence to bond counsel on the record (July 29, clip 3736, 12:23). §441.21(3)(a) defines the bases as distinct. Urbandale's notice for the same election computes its figure with the rollback applied.
• [U.19] 2026-08-11: New Fact Check page added, itemizing the factual claims on johnsoncountyjailbond.com and its fact sheet against primary records, with ratings. County pages retrieved and archived August 11, 2026.
• [U.20] 2026-08-11: Records page additions: Piper Sandler agreement approved July 23 (3-1), fee contingent on closing, MSRB G-42 conflicts disclosure quoted; bond counsel section (unnamed through ballot drafting; records request in preparation); Yes JoCo Statement of Organization (filed June 22, 2026 — chairperson a sitting CJCC member, treasurer the author of the term-structure email cited August 5, parent-entity field naming the Board chair); internal committee's third name ("Jail Planning Committee," August 12 agenda) and its CMAR recommendation; pre-vote CMAR selection initiated August 12–13. Pre-vote commitments total updated to ~$3.08M.
• [U.21] 2026-08-11: Community-session listing updated: Solon moved to August 18 per the county site (announced July 9 as August 11). FAQ renovation-impossibility claims ("footings too shallow," "landlocked") checked against Vol. I, the 2022 FCA, and both Axiom assessments: the terms appear in none of them, and Vol. I contains no renovation-versus-new analysis despite its scope requiring one. Current-building floor area: Vol. I states 27,000 SF; the county site's 28,500 SF is unsourced.
• [U.22] 2026-08-11: Fact Check page expanded before publication: a method note stating that entries present the county's available defense and test it against the record; the replacement facility's cell dimensions added (single cells ~70 SF — the approximate size of current cells — and 92 SF two-person cells, per Shive-Hattery's July 9, 2026 CJCC presentation, clip 3697); the FCI entry now notes the 104.8% index is a 2022 pre-repair snapshot while the $1,885,400 Peak stabilization addresses the flagged deterioration; the $1,844,755 entry reframed around the unstated five-year window; the landlocked entry notes the July 9, 2026 $5.5M purchase of the block near the jail. Ratings adjusted accordingly (FCI and the cell-size claim to accurate-but-incomplete; the tax-impact figure to misleading on the undisclosed-term ground; 28,500 SF to inconsistent). Dated Internet Archive captures of all county pages linked from the page.
• [U.23] 2026-08-11: Nine primary-source files added to downloads, linked from citing pages and the Sources list: the August 6, 2026 formal agenda packet (adopted resolution and notice); the July 29, 2026 work-session packet (financing matrix and Finance Director's summary) and its minutes; the July 22 and August 5 work-session minutes; the Yes JoCo Statement of Organization (IECDB, June 22, 2026); the county's bond fact sheet; a mirror of the 2018 WT Group ADA evaluation; and a video excerpt of the Finance Director's July 29 bond-counsel statement (bond-equiv.mp4).
• [U.24] 2026-08-11: Records request RR-008 submitted (bond counsel: identity, engagement, billing, and written advice on the tax-estimate basis and ceiling characterization) and added to the tracker; RR-007 notes updated with the internal committee's two additional names. Total-repayment range ($120–146M at the county's estimated yields) elevated to headline cards on the Overview and Cost Analysis pages, with the comparison to Urbandale's published financing term. Cost Analysis data gaps updated: the adopted-resolution gap replaced by the unbound repayment schedule, and the SC349 gap now records that RR-003 produced no written justification.
• [U.25] 2026-08-11: Overview capacity section updated: the question whether Vol. I's 240-bed core-support sizing survived into the current design is resolved by the county's Proposal page, which states the kitchen and mechanical components are sized "to support an additional 100 housing beds" beyond the 140-bed design — 240 — contradicting the Sheriff's May 21, 2026 statement. The scope description in the lede updated for the adopted proposition: jail and Sheriff's Office only, the courthouse and County Attorney draft options not adopted, vehicle maintenance removed from the program in July 2026.
• [U.26] 2026-08-12: New "The 2018 ADA Audit" section added to the Cost Analysis page (Part 9), breaking down the WT Group accessibility evaluation the county cites as evidence the jail "does not meet accessibility guidelines of the ADA": the areas actually inspected (the secure jail housing was not among them), the recommendation split between boilerplate deferrals and real fixes, the genuinely structural findings, and the unpublished transition plan. The Fact Check page's "ada" entry updated to point to it and to correct the finding count from 257 to 166. Records request RR-009 submitted for the transition-plan spreadsheet and remediation records.
• [U.27] 2026-08-12: New "The undescribed 55 percent" subsection added to the Cost Analysis page's Built-to-the-Minimum section, quoting the county's own bond-site floor plans for the sheriff's-office half of the building, room by room, and tying the Unassigned and Situation Operations Room labels to reporting already on this site. Both floor-plan images archived and added to Sources.
• [U.28] 2026-08-12: New county sources added. Monthly dashboards (March, April, May Rev, June 2026) archived and cited in Sources; June 2026 ADP = 95.7 (summer step-up has not reverted). FY2526 Control Sheet PDF archived. OoC Housing cost tables (by year and by county, 2003–2025) archived; running total through December 2025 = $16,641,920.51, confirming "$16.6M" and refuting "over $17 million" on the county's bond site. Fact-check entry "ooc-1844" updated: FY2021–FY2025 control-sheet sum = $1,844,755 exactly, confirming the county's figure and removing the "within $430" qualifier. Fact-check entry "ooc-total" updated to cite the confirmed $16,641,920.51 and name "over $17 million" as wrong. Sequential Intercept Model Mapping Report and Map (posted June 2026) archived; not yet analyzed for site incorporation. Calconic embed config verified against extracted values and archived as a hosted source. Campaign-site image pulls (Building Areas, Exhibit Boards, Floor Plans) blocked by Squarespace JavaScript rendering; flagged as a follow-up item. Sources: johnsoncountyiowa.gov/sheriff/jail-stats (retrieved 2026-08-12); johnsoncountyjailbond.com Calconic embed (retrieved 2026-08-12).
• [U.29] 2026-08-12: Built-to-the-Minimum section extended on the Cost Analysis page. Subsection citations added to each table row (IAC 201—50.8(1)a–b, 50.8(2)a/d). Therapeutic and negative-pressure medical cell row added (no IAC minimum; provided by design; source: clip 3697, 27:26). Footnote added: the 70 SF and 35 SF-per-occupant thresholds apply when confinement exceeds 10 hours per day [§50.8(1)a–b]. Disclosure tooltips added to the single-cell (23:10), two-person (23:14), and dayroom (22:34) rows with verbatim quotes and Granicus clip 3697 links. Opening PullQuote repositioned to precede the intro paragraph; attribution updated to include the 20:48 timestamp and "Shive-Hattery presentation." MissingBox added listing four unverifiable items (exercise area, large-unit dayroom, fixture ratios, safety cell). Records-request RR-010 added (Draft) for the Shive-Hattery room-by-room area schedule. MinimumsChart paired-bar graphic added with caption linking the /factcheck cell-size entry. IAC 201—50.8 (February 5, 2025 edition) copied to /downloads/ and cited in Sources with subsection detail. Sources: clip 3697 timestamps per the 2026-07-09 CJCC meeting extract; IAC 201—50.8.