Woodbury County breaks ground on new Law Enforcement Center

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — It's another big step in the building of Woodbury County's new Law Enforcement Center and jail.

Groundbreaking for that project was held Wednesday at the site, which is located on 28th street just west of Highway 75 in Sioux City.

Members of the Board of Supervisors, the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Authority, and the construction team took part in the ceremony.

The chairman of the authority says planning for this project has been done with great care.

"We actually spent many many hours, a full long day going through the plans, and we went through every door in the facility. We decided what type of glass it needed, how big the glass needed to be, what type of lock did it need, and we decided did the door need a pass-through," said Ron Wieck Chairman of Woodbury Law Enforcement Authority.

Also at the groundbreaking were a number of people protesting a decision to use COVID-19 relief funds to pay for part of the estimated $65 million project.

"We are here protesting the extra $15.6 million used from the COVID relief funds for Woodbury County. That is 3 quarters of the COVID relief fund that was not voted by the public to be used for this project here. I believe this is a gross misuse of public funds that should be used for better causes here in our community," said Toli Shearn, protesting the use of COVID-19 money.

The new LEC is expected to be completed sometime in 2023. It'll replace the downtown facility that was built in 1987.