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Local officials are divided on whether to build a new jail or renovate the existing facility.

Advocacy groups and some officials argue for renovating the current jail, citing consultant reports.

County commissioners insist renovation is not an option, saying the same studies highlight severe space and structural limitations.

Can the current county jail be renovated and expanded? The question — which county commissioners thought they had already answered — re-entered the public discussion in force last week after the county council rejected the construction of a new $225 million jail . Here’s how people think about that question now.

Cathleen Paquet, a member of the local Care not Cages group, which advocates for reducing the community reliance on incarceratio

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