Officials break ground on new Kings County Sheriff's Office headquarters in Hanford

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Kings County is getting a new sheriff's headquarters in Hanford.

Officials broke ground Monday on the more than $8 million project that will also feature a community room for the public.

County leaders joined Sheriff David Robinson for the ceremonial turning of the dirt at the building's future location near the jailhouse.

"As far as my career goes and my last ten years as sheriff, this is definitely a career highlight and it's pretty amazing," said Sheriff David Robinson.

The new facility will double the current bulding's size to about 15,000 square feet and will cost $8.2 million.

Assemblymember Rudy Salas is credited with securing $7 million from Sacramento to help make the project a reality.

"This will be a more permanent place for the sheriff's office and hopefully will be a solution for the next 50-plus years, so I'm very proud to be a part of that," said Assemblymember Salas.

"With the support of the Board of Supervisors on a 5-0 vote, they voted to add $1.2 million more to this project to make sure this project got done," said Sheriff Robinson.

The department has operated out of its current building on Lacey Boulevard since 1964 and when the new jail was built in 2007, the jail and headquarters were separated.

The new facility will be located next to the jail, making it easier to book suspects or for employees to walk from one building to the next.

"Now that they're literally going to be next-door neighbors and right next to each other, it's going to bring more efficiency in. We have managers that will be able to communicate directly and within just a few steps, we're going to have people that can communicate and work together on things," said Sheriff Robinson.

Construction will begin right away with an estimated completion date by early 2022.