Supervisors have to approve the final settlement between the county and Southwood--and probably will discuss that in closed session Tuesday, Brooks said.

County officials have had the daily fine, called the "right to assess liquidated damages," in mind for months.

In a September email, Quesenberry explained the deadlines in place at the time: Aug. 1, 2011, was the substantial completion date and Dec. 1, 2011, was the final completion date.

"The fee could be effective as of Aug. 1," Quesenberry wrote in September.

Since then, the final completion date has been changed to June 1. It's not clear when the daily penalty would begin, if the supervisors do decide to impose it.

AN EXCEPTIONAL PRICE

Despite the delays, supervisors point out the incredible bargain the county got on the building. Officials expected the new center to cost more than $13 million when they put the project out for bids.

Fourteen contractors responded in March 2009, when the construction market was still at a low point, and bids hovered between $7.3 million and $8.7 million.

"The price we got was exceptional," Grzeika said in an email Friday.

He added the basement was included because the cost "was just too good to pass up, which is why it [the building] seems so large."

After the discussion of delays, the second-most talked about theme of the new Sheriff's Office seems to be its size. The new center is 40,000 square feet, as big as the University of Mary Washington's new Center for Education and Research in Dahlgren.

"People have been saying, 'Why does it have to be so big?' " said Supervisor John LoBuglio. "But compared to other jurisdictions, I would say it's comparable."

Supervisors Grzeika and Dale Sisson Jr. pointed out the new facility will provide room for gathering and storing evidence and have features that will carry it into the future.

Uniformed officers and administrators also will have adequate room to work.

"They're sitting on top of each other now," Brooks said. "They don't have proper holding cells. That little jail is ridiculous."

Still, "it is a dramatic increase in size" between the current space and the new one, Sisson said.