URBANA — Champaign County Board member Steve Moser remembers when the county jail in downtown Urbana was completed in 1980 and regrets the way costs were cut at the time.

"The jail was over capacity the day it opened," Moser said. "Two years after it was built, we started double-bunking people. You cut corners, and it comes back to haunt you."

Champaign County Board members discussed the future of the county's older jail in downtown Urbana and the newer satellite jail on the east side of Urbana at a committee-of-the-whole meeting Tuesday night at the Brookens Administrative Center.

Sheriff Dan Walsh said the downtown jail was designed to hold 134 prisoners and the satellite jail was designed to hold 147 prisoners. As of Tuesday morning, the county had 239 "bedded" prisoners (people who had been arraigned, had their bond set and are unable to pay their bond). Of those, about 50 were housed at the downtown jail, with 23 of those female.

A report by consultants from the Department of Justice's National Institute of Corrrections suggested closing the downtown jail. The consultants assessed the jail facilities last month.

According to a report from the county's facilities director, Alan Reinhart, the downtown jail will require $1.5 million to $1.8 million in capital improvements over the next three to four years, including a new roofing system, an emergency generation system, restoration of its brick-and-mortar exterior, a climate-control system and a replacement boiler system.

"The downtown facility has many structural and function problems," Walsh said. "The roof leaks and has (leaked), on and off, for years. There is limited air movement. The HVAC is of such design that there are frequently very hot and humid areas and, depending on the weather, very cold areas, both in the jail and office area."

Walsh said that ice and water are sometimes distributed to inmates because of heat and ventilation problems, and he noted that a litter of baby garter snakes was born at the jail last summer.

County board member Ralph Langenheim said he would like to see a plan to salvage the downtown building.

"Corners were cut, but it is a solid building," he said. "It seems to be poor planning to throw away a building that is 30 years old."

County board member Stan James said the board needs to study the issue before making a decision.

"We're looking at a major dollar item, and I hope this board takes the time to study it," James said.

"We're going to be spending a lot of money on the current facility the longer that we wait," county board member Christopher Alix said.

The board agreed to study the issue further over the coming months.

In other business, the county board recommended increasing the cost of civil union licenses.

Champaign County Clerk Gordy Hulten said the county has been charging $4 for civil union licenses, plus a $5 surcharge for the Illinois Domestic Violence Fund.

When the state passed the Civil Union Act, an oversight in the law did not give counties the authority to set the fee for civil union licenses, Hulten said.

"On May 31 the governor signed the bill giving counties the authority to set the fee. My recommendation to the county board is that we set the fee for civil unions and marriages at identical levels."

The new cost for civil union licenses would be $15, plus the $5 surcharge.

Hulten said the county has issued 44 civil-union licenses during the first two weeks they have been available.