By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A little-used northwest Missouri jail advertised as "turnkey" ready is on the auction block after the private company that ran it lost it to a bank.
The Bridewell Detention Facility was built in 2005 in the small town of Bethany, near the Iowa border. Iowa's Poke County, where Des Moines is located, was a major customer.
But the Poke County Sheriff's Department says it stopped sending inmates to Bethany after opening a new jail in November 2008.
Auction company AmeriBid says that by 2010, the 240-bed Bridewell Detention Facility closed its doors.
The bank has had possession of the facility for about a year. A 2006 appraisal found the replacement cost for the facility would be $3.8 million.
Sealed bids are being accepted through Jan. 28.