The Centre County Board of Commissioners is encountering difficulty in gaining legislative support for a new county jail that could be the most expensive public works undertaking in Centre County to date.

The jail would be a 300-bed facility with capability to expand to 600 beds, said Commissioner Connie Lucas. The estimated cost for the project is between $22 and $28 million, although Lucas said the cost is more likely to be closer to $22 million.

During negotiations in February with the State Correctional Institution at Rockview, the Department of Corrections and the department's general services sector, Rockview approved plans for the jail to be built on Rockview property. Rockview agreed to give commissioners 27.4 acres of land for the jail, Lucas said. The jail would extend on Route 26 three miles out of Bellefonte toward State College.

To notarize land transfer from the institution to the county, legislation has to be introduced by a legislator. Sen. Jake Corman, (R- Centre), an influential figure in the pending jail plans, said he has too many unanswered questions about the project to put forth any preliminary legislation.

Don Houser, Corman's spokesman, said the large amount of land and money the board has asked for has prompted many legislators in the area to seriously question the necessity of a new jail of this size.

Corman has continually asked the commissioners to answer why the number of acres requested are needed for the jail, but has "never received a detailed explanation of why they need these acres," Hauser said.

"They developed plans for this prison in one meeting . . . they enacted what they wanted to do with no public input," he said.

Rep. Kerry Benninghoff (R- Centre and Mifflin) is also questioning the size of the proposed jail and said there are still too many questions that commissioners have not yet answered.

"To build a facility three times larger than the current inmate population seems pretty extreme," Benninghoff said.

Citizens have confronted him with their concerns regarding possible financial repercussions that could result from this project, Benninghoff said.

Centre County is investing in several school-building projects that are already taking a large amount of the county budget. The $22 to $28 million figure commissioners are quoting as the cost of the project doesn't include other additional costs, Benninghoff said.

"They have no idea what the operating costs would be for a project this size," Benninghoff said.

Lucas agreed there are concerns about the financial backing of the new jail by residents and concern from Bellefonte business owners. If the new jail is built, Centre County Prison would no longer be used to house inmate and business owners are concerned they may lose business from the prison's employees.

To aid residents in answering questions about the jail, the board has established open houses for people to find out more information, Lucas said.

Benninghoff, however, said he went to one of the open houses and did not find it helpful. He also said several constituents approached him and said the information sessions did not answer the questions they had about the project.

Benninghoff has asked the board to hold a public hearing for an in-depth discussion of the plans.

"I never said they (the board) don't need more space, but they need to be straightforward with taxpayers . . . and consider other options," Benninghoff said.