Welcome to Weekly Connections! Here is your summary of key updates from the justice industry for the week of Oct. 13.

Starting with project updates:

• Officials in Henderson County, N.C., broke ground on a $173 million expansion of the county courthouse and detention center. The jail expansion is expected to be completed in 2026.
• The Placer County Sheriff's Office in California held a ribbon cutting for two new facilities at the Bill Santucci Justice Center: a 120-bed vocational center and a 45-bed mental health facility totaling $66 million.
• The first structural steel beam has been placed at the site of the Vanderburgh County Jail expansion project in Indiana. The $30 million project will add about 170 beds.
• The new Minnehaha County Juvenile Justice Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., will open later this month as Phase I of a $50 million project wraps up.
• Also in South Dakota, construction of the new $19.8 million Turner County Courthouse is proceeding on schedule and is expected to be completed as early as next fall.

Moving over to legislation and funding:

• The Board of Oklahoma County Commissioners voted to issue the remaining $215 million of a recently approved $260 million bond to build a new county jail.
• A proposal for a new juvenile correctional center in Dane County, Wis., is closer to achieving state approval after positive findings from an environmental assessment.
• Commissioners in Penobscot County, Maine recently met to discuss budgeting and plans for a new county jail that would include between 250 and 300 beds.
• Mesa County, Colo., recently awarded a $3.7 million contract to FCI Constructors Incorporated to serve as the CMAR for the county's new justice center expansion project.
• The Randolph County Council in Indiana authorized more than $500,000 in bonds to renovate HVAC, water and wastewater infrastructure at the Randolph County Jail.

Moving on to People News:

• The Wyoming Department of Corrections announced the appointment of Walter "Brick" Tripp as warden of the Wyoming State Penitentiary, effective Oct. 27.

Now diving into construction reports:

• The City of Urbandale, Iowa has issued an RFP for architecture and engineering firms to design a new $50 million police department headquarters, with proposals due Oct. 24.
• The Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission is seeking a CMAR for the Macon County Youth Development Campus expansion project, with bids due Oct. 29.
• Clallam County, Wash., is accepting bids for the construction of a new joint public safety facility, with bids due Oct. 29.
• The county of Ingham, Mich., is seeking an owner's representative during the construction of a new youth detention facility, with proposals due Nov. 10.

Closing it out with events for the week:

• The International Corrections and Prisons Association's annual conference will take place Oct. 26–31 in Istanbul, Turkey.
• Chicago Beyond's 2025 National Justice Convening will be held from Oct. 29–30.
• Next month, the National Conference on Correctional Healthcare will be held in Baltimore from Nov. 1–5.

For more details or to access the links mentioned, check out our podcast show notes at correctionalnews.com/podcast.