The Story County Board of Supervisors began taking bids Thursday for grading the site where a new justice center will be constructed.

The Story County Justice Center will be developed on 12 acres in Nevada’s south business park.

Grading includes the earth moving, leveling and other preparations needed at the site before any construction can begin, said Fred Mathison, member of the board of supervisors.

The Nevada Economic Development Committee donated the land, valued at $350,000 and delivered the deed to supervisors Thursday in a ceremony at the Story County Courthouse, Mathison said.

“The taxpayers should be very grateful for the [committee] saving them a lot of money,” he said.

The center’s groundbreaking is scheduled for early September, and the board of supervisors will take bids on the actual construction in late October. Construction may take 24 months, and the building could be open in early 2002, Mathison said.

The new justice center, which will cost about $13.9 million, will consist of three interconnected buildings that will house courtrooms, the sheriff’s office and a jail.

Jack Whitmer, chairman of the board of supervisors, said cramped conditions at the Story County Courthouse and jail is one of the many reasons for a new justice center. Building designers anticipated that in 10 to 15 years, the courtrooms and jails will need to be larger, Whitmer said.

The current courthouse was built in 1968 with a 50-bed jail, said Lt. Gary Foster of the Story County Sheriff’s Department. Changes in the State of Iowa code reduced the jail’s capacity to only 38 beds. Part of the jail was remodeled in 1985 to bring capacity up to 46 beds, he said.

“There is no more space to add on to the courthouse,” he said.

The new center will have 96 beds, and Foster said “the layout of the jail is staff-friendly and eases supervision of inmates.”

Whitmer said the new justice center will have twice the number of courtrooms and also will have room for the offices of the county attorney and clerk of court.

The lack of courtrooms has forced the county to relocate civil cases to surrounding towns’ courthouses, Whitmer said. The county attorney’s office handles civil cases for the state and county and advises supervisors in surrounding townships.

The existing courthouse will remain open to house the county’s board of supervisors, treasury and administrative offices.