Fayette County officials now have two sets of conceptual plans for a new jail and judicial complex, but they want yet another.

During an annual planning retreat this past weekend, county commissioners asked their committee of members, staff and consultants to look more thoroughly at the possibility of adding onto the current jail rather than building a new facility on 33 acres of county-owned land.

The proposed new site is between Lee Street and Jimmy Mayfield Boulevard, bordered on north and south by homes along Williamsburg Way and Long Avenue. The current jail is on the north side of Long at Lee Street.

The latest conceptual plans drawn by consultant Mallett and Associates shows a 444-bed jail, designed to provide for future growth in jail population to the year 2010.

"I think it's like 'Field of Dreams.' If you build it, they will come," said Commissioner Greg Dunn. State agencies pay only $5 a day to keep sentenced prisoners in the county lockup until there's room in a state prison, Dunn pointed out, while it costs the county $37.50 a day to house them.

"The state of Georgia will fill every bed we've got," Dunn said, adding that the county should consider adding only enough space to house the current jail population, with plans to add new modules as population increases. Population at the jail now runs about double what the facility was designed for.

"My feeling is that we have to build something that allows for growth as we need it," said Dunn. "I don't want to build a huge annex state prison here."

The current facility "was originally built so you could add pods to it," said Commissioner Linda Wells.

But odd angles in the current building, and the inability to separate violent and nonviolent inmates, may make the building unusable, said county administrator Billy Beckett. "It's operationally inefficient," he said.

Another problem with that option is that the current site doesn't have enough land to expand the jail and provide parking. Commissioners discussed the need for additional land in executive session, but afterward said they still want to examine all the possibilities before committing to an entirely new facility.

Once they decide what to build, commissioners must then consider how to finance the project. Current estimates for the jail vary from about $22 million to $33 million, including equipment, and the county must also consider a new judicial complex to house the currently overcrowded courts and offices.

A local option sales tax is high on commissioners' list, but Dunn said the county may face a problem there. "We're going to be competing for LOST funds with the school board and a regional transportation authority" currently under consideration by the state legislature, he said.

Commissioners hope to have a report on the add-on option by the end of March, final drawings by the end of May and immediately begin working on finance options.

Once the jail is nailed down, the group will begin work on a master plan for the 33-acre county site, which is expected to include a new three-story judicial complex in the near term, and a possible future county administrative complex in the long term.

Officials won't say whether they're considering melding the property that holds the current jail and judicial facility with the 33-acre vacant site by purchasing the Long Avenue homes in between.