MOUNT PLEASANT — The Henry County Board of Supervisors approved the preliminary floor plans for the new Henry County jail and law center last week, about six months after county residents approved the construction in a special election.

Since the vote, a few significant changes were made to the plans.

With the original location set for Iris Street, a lawsuit from the owner of a neighboring property pushed the project to the new Grand Avenue site. The move had a minimal effect on layout plans for building.

Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee said architects simply flip-flopped the design, moving the main entrance from one side of the building to the other.

If anything, Project Manager John Hansen, president of Midwest Construction Consultants said, the move could cut down on site development costs. Hansen said the Iris Street location required some elevation to be leveled out and roads put in, which he said would have significantly added to the cost of that portion of the project.

At the polls in August, plans showed a 23,022-square-foot facility with 44 inmate beds. Those numbers have grown, and preliminary floor plans now show a 24,283-square-foot jail with 60 inmate beds, expandable to 96 beds.

The $9.1 million budget remains the same.

However, besides those changes, the layout of the jail and law center remains similar to the one in August, said McNamee.

The facility will feature a public entrance and lobby on the left side of the building. That side also will include the sheriff’s office, deputy squad room, storage, armory, dispatch, server room and a multi-purpose training room, among other administrative spaces.

From the initial drawing to the preliminary floor plans, the armory, service room and storage closet swapped locations. The armory will hold ammunition and weapons, the service room will hold computers and other technology and the storage closet will hold extra gear.

The storage closet, originally located in a large room, decreased in size, and the armory was moved further away from inmate cells.

A smaller middle section will include the intake space attached to a drive-through sallyport.

The right side of the building will house inmate cells.

Hansen said plans should be ready for distribution to contractors around March 5 and are anticipated for bid-letting around March 29.

The project will include six separate contract bids for general construction, detention equipment, security electronics, HVAC, electrical and fire/sprinkler. They will all be bid at once, said Hansen.

Plans to break ground on the construction project are tentatively set for April, and should take 12 to 14 months to complete.