County officials tour facilities as they consider future space, security needs

Undersheriff Derrek Wilson shows committee members a corridor in the jail.

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief

LUDINGTON — Members of the Mason County Board of Commissioners, the county’s Facilities Management and Planning Study Group, and county staff toured several county-owned properties Friday, Oct. 23, as part of an ongoing effort to evaluate the condition of county facilities and determine future needs.

Among the county’s biggest concerns are space limitations at the Mason County Jail and Sheriff’s Office, security at the courthouse and the long-term feasibility of maintaining facilities that, in some cases, date back more than a century.

Mason County Administrator Kaitlyn Szczypka said the study group is considering a request for proposals for a comprehensive facilities assessment that would address immediate maintenance concerns, short-term improvements and long-term planning.

“The committee right now is looking at an RFP for facilities assessment and a plan for our future,” Szczypka said. “So it’s in three different parts. Looking at what our needs are now, what our short-term plans are, and what our long-term plans are going to be.”

Szczypka said the county must consider how its facilities will serve the public over the next several decades.

“We’ve had a lot of our facilities since the ’50s, since the 1800s in some cases, and so now we need to look at what the next 50 and 100 years look like to serve the citizens of Mason County,” she said.

Dep. Chuck Austin walks down a hallway in the jail.

The tour began at the Mason County Airport in Pere Marquette Township. Scheduled stops included the county’s Animal Control facility, sheriff’s storage building, fairgrounds, health department buildings, courthouse, Sheriff’s Office and jail facilities, a recently acquired church building and county-owned properties along Bradshaw Road.

Szczypka said one of the most pressing issues is the lack of adequate space for public safety operations.

“We’re bursting at the seams for some of our facilities,” she said. “I especially think about our jail and our sheriff’s department.”

She said the county has increased law enforcement staffing over the years, including additional road patrol deputies and school resource officers. The public safety millage approved in 2018 helped support the increased staffing, but that growth has also placed additional demands on existing facilities.

“Our jail and our court system has been very active, and that means we’ve been at capacity for our jails a few times in the last few years,” Szczypka said.

The Mason County Jail was built in 1960 and underwent a major expansion in the late 1990s. The Mason County Courthouse, built in 1893, has undergone several renovations, many emphasizing historical preservation.

In addition to space limitations, Szczypka said water infiltration at the Sheriff’s Office building presents a significant challenge when considering future improvements.

She said the building was constructed over an underground stream and has experienced ongoing water infiltration problems, particularly in the basement.

Chief Dep. Ken VanSickle explains some of the jail’s systems.

“So we could look at building additions, building solutions over there, but long-term feasibility, we don’t know with the water infiltration issues, especially in the basement and the pressure that puts on that lot specifically,” she said.

Another area being considered is the church building, located on the southwest corner of Lavinia and Pere Marquette streets, which the county purchased adjacent to the Sheriff’s Office. Szczypka said the county is evaluating whether the building could be renovated to accommodate certain court operations, potentially providing a short- or medium-term solution while longer-term plans are developed.

One concern is the security risk associated with transporting inmates from the jail across the street to the courthouse for court proceedings. Szczypka said relocating some court functions closer to the jail could help address those concerns while the county determines its long-term needs.

Another consideration is the location of the Sheriff’s Office and its impact on emergency response times throughout the county. The Sheriff’s Office is located just a few blocks from downtown Ludington, requiring deputies responding to incidents outside the city to navigate several traffic signals before reaching other areas of the county. Additionally, the City of Ludington has its own police department.

“We need to look at solutions that are more centralized to make sure that we are responding in a timely manner to emergency situations that citizens face,” Szczypka said.

The Facilities Management and Planning Study Group was established in November 2025 as a subgroup of the Board of Commissioners’ Building and Grounds Committee.

Its members include Mason County Chief Judge Jeffrey Nellis, Undersheriff Derrek Wilson, Treasurer Andrew Kmetz IV, Szczypka and county commissioners Janet Andersen, Nick Krieger and Les Johnson. Nellis serves as chairman, while Krieger serves as secretary.

During its initial meeting, the group identified the courthouse and jail as two of its greatest concerns. Members also discussed the possibility of relocating some county functions while maintaining other offices at the historic courthouse.

The group’s goals include conducting a comprehensive needs assessment, establishing short- and long-term priorities, researching county growth trends and developing a strategy for communicating with the public.

Friday’s tour was intended to give commissioners and study group members a firsthand look at the condition and limitations of county properties before determining the next steps.

The tour was designated as informational, with no official county business, deliberations or votes planned.

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