The liability of county jails to county governments, primarily because of prisoner lawsuits and Federal court orders, is identified. Major jail concerns -- project location, prisoner lawsuits, energy consumption, public support, bond referendums, philosophical trends, standard and accreditation, capacity projection, and detention staffing -- are reviewed. Methods of financing county jails are considered; (funding alternatives such as special grants, general obligation bonds, private party lease, and detention housing rental are explored. Four distinct concepts of detention housing are examined: linear design-indirect supervision modular design-indirect supervision, modular design-direct supervision and prefabricated housing-direct or indirect supervision. Work release programs within county jails are described, and descriptions of a number of detention projects for both large and small counties are provided in a case study. Attention is focused on the Passaic County Juvenile Facility in New Jersey, the Wyoming Women's Center, the Hennepin County Work/Study Release Residence Facility in Minnesota, the Lewis County Jail in Washington, the Frontenac Correctional Institute in Ontario, the Fairfax County Detention Center in Virginia, and the Orange County Minimum Security Housing Complex in Florida. Finally, the influence of computers, individualized detention, hi-tech materials, prisoner classification, and other factors on jails of the future is explored. Eighteen illustrations are included.