Calvert County Sheriff’s Office Is Next On The County’s Redesign List – Starting With $60k

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Calvert County Sheriff’s Office headquarters may be getting an upgrade soon.

The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners approved a $60,000 expenditure at their Tuesday, April 28 meeting. According to a memo submitted by Sheriff Ricky Cox, the funds will be used to pay MW Studios, a public safety architecture firm, for a conceptual design for a new property room/crime lab.

To initiate the project in the most efficient way, Cox requested that the funding be allocated from the Capital Contingency Fund prior to the fiscal year 2027 budget year. This means the county can move forward with the project when funds become available in July 2026 and will be able to start construction sooner. This reallocation will not affect the county’s operating budget.

“The facility is outdated, inadequate and does not meet current law enforcement standards,” Cox wrote in the memo. The headquarters was originally designed and built as a hospital in 1919 — in 2024, an Existing Conditions Report was completed by MW Studios, which found that the current building “lacks the spatial size requirements needed to meet contemporary standards of the mission critical functions they perform.” The report gives an overall rating of “Poor,” one rating above “Defective.” The property room/crime lab is considered a top priority and will be phase 1 of a new Sheriff’s Office. This new building is so far slated for Dares Beach Road, on existing county property, behind the Harriett E. Brown Community Center.

A new headquarters will modernize operations, accommodate growth and provide a safer and more efficient facility for staff and the public. Director of Public Works John Cosgrove said that it it would likely be two to three years before the full project could be completed.

---