Discussions of A Potential New Jail in Muskingum County

ZANESVILLE, OH – There could be a site available for a new jail in Muskingum County.

Muskingum County has filed an application with the Zanesville Zoning Board to construct a new jail facility at the corner of Pershing and Dryden Road, where the Mosiac Tile facility used to sit. A meeting will be held Thursday at 5:30pm in the Zanesville City Council Chambers in hopes of getting the application approved.

“We will be making a presentation to the board about why we want to put it there, and the good points. Then, the Zoning Board will take some questions and answers and go through their process, and they will make a vote on whether to approve or disapprove of the application,” Muskingum County Sheriff, Matt Lutz said.

The Zoning Board will hear testimony for or against the request prior to the public meeting. Discussions of the potential new jail come after the current location in downtown Zanesville has faced its share of problems, including safety concerns and design flaws.

“It was designed as an office building, and it had the capacity of like 50 jail beds on the fourth floor. The rest of the building was built as an office building… not a jail. Anytime you build a jail with multiple floors, you’re moving prisoners with corrections officers. New style jails are moving prisoners with cameras and doors so you can be a lot more efficient, and you can watch a lot more prisoners with less people. It’s a lot safer,” Sheriff Lutz said.

Once a location for the jail is approved, they will move forward with approving a design and sending it out for the estimates of construction.