El Paso County to begin talks with new company on jail study

El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles provides County Judge Veronica Escobar, background, and commissioners with information on costs associated with operating the Downtown Jail during a special meeting Thursday. (Rudy Gutierrez El Paso Times)

The County Commissioners Court on Thursday ended negotiations with MNK Architects and authorized county staff to start negotiating a contract with another firm to conduct a study to see if the Downtown Jail has to be replaced.

MNK Architects of El Paso was selected over Wiginton Hooker Jeffry, PC. of Plano, Texas, to perform a study on whether the 30-year-old Downtown Jail can be fixed or a new one has to be built.

But after two months of negotiations, the county and MNK Architects could not reach an agreement.

MNK Architects was charging the county a much higher price than what Commissioners Court had expected almost double, Commissioner Vince Perez said last week. Last year, County Commissioners set aside $250,000 to pay for the study.

Kennie Downing, the county's purchasing agent, now will contact Wiginton Hooker Jeffry, PC to begin negotiations.

Both MNK Architects and Wiginton Hooker Jeffry, PC were the top finalists in the bidding process and their proposals were rated as equal by the county's evaluation committee. Commissioners initially supported MNK Architects because it's a local company and it participated in the construction of the jail.

Downing said new negotiations will start soon, "hopefully next week."

"We are hoping that the company (Wiginton Hooker Jeffry) would negotiate in good faith with us," she said. The budgeted amount, $250,000, was based on an estimate given to Downing by a "very reputable" architect who does a lot of jail designs, she said.

That architect did not participate in the bidding process, Downing said.

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El Paso County to begin talks with new company on jail study