After hearing a number of comments from the 'Build Programs Not Jails' movement, on a vote of 15-2, the Champaign County Board Thursday approved placing a quarter-cent sales tax on the November ballot.

The Champaign County Board is expected to vote Thursday night on whether to place a referendum for facilities on the ballot for this November.  The initiative would raise the county’s sales tax one quarter of a percent for a period of 12 years.  Illinois Public Media's Brian Moline spoke with Champaign County Administrator Rick Snider about the proposal, including plans for the county jail.

Voters in Champaign County could be asked this fall to support a 1/4-cent sales tax to address facilities needs. County Board Chair Rick Snider says priorities include closing the downtown Urbana jail, and expansion of the satellite site, as well closing the Brookens Administrative Center to move county government to downtown Urbana. The county board would have to approve the plan by August 18 for the question to appear on the November ballot.

Champaign County Sheriff's Dan Walsh says Toya Frazier 45, of Savoy, was found not breathing in her cell early Tuesday evening, and later pronounced dead at Carle Hospital.  Sheriff Dan Walsh believes that a medical issue is the likely cause, but Illinois State Police will investigate the matter.  A preliminary autopsy didn't reveal a cause of death.

The plan would consolidate Champaign County jail operations in an expanded and renovated satellite jail, but some county board members and citizens want more emphasis on programs to lower the county's incarceration rate.