Associated Press - November 10, 2009 6:25 AM ET

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) - The deadline has arrived for Gage County voters to mail in their votes on a bond issue to build a new jail near Beatrice.

Mail-in ballots were sent to more than 15,000 Gage County voters last month. The completed ballots are due back by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The $11.4 million bond issue would pay for a new jail and law enforcement center.

The jail would have 85 beds and address the overcrowding problem at the current facility, which is more than 30 years old and has only 30 beds.

The project would be built west of Beatrice, off state Highway 4 in southeast Nebraska.

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