The Douglas County Board voted 7-0 Tuesday to support Legislative Bill 646. The bill’s prospects are uncertain. But the County Board’s stance on it is clear.

“It’s the right thing to do,” said Mike Boyle, one of four Democrats on the board. The three Republicans backed it as well. Chambers is an independent. “Sen. Chambers has it nailed.”

“Bail is a very brutal way of dealing with primarily poor people,” Boyle said. “It sets them up for failure. It leads to financial pain, it leads to family pain. It’s very destructive, and there’s got to be a better way to do it.”

Also Tuesday, the board voted 7-0 to approve a new method of financing the purchase of the Metropolitan Utilities District headquarters site in downtown Omaha. The county wants the city block and MUD’s office building as a site for a potential courthouse expansion and juvenile detention center.

The county had planned to pay for the $6 million purchase out of the proceeds of a $120 million Omaha-Douglas Public Building Commission bond issue.

But the building commission voted that bond issue down in January.

The county may try again for the same project, or a variation of it. But in the meantime, the building commission plans to issue $6.25 million in bonds and buy the MUD site from the county.

That proposal would still need Omaha City Council approval and require another building commission vote. The additional $250,000 over the $6 million purchase price would cover closing costs.