The Craighead County Quorum Court’s Public Service Committee discussed a possible Jail Tax to be put on the November ballot on June 10th.
Craighead County Sheriff Marty Boyd spoke to the committee about an 8-year half-cent sales tax to fund the construction of a new jail.
“For several years we've been talking about the needs of the detention center,” Boyd said. “We’ve been trying to manage it as best as possible but at this point, the management is unimaginable because of overcrowding.”
Boyd said ultimately in his mind it comes down to a public safety issue. He spoke to the committee about the issues with expanding the current detention center.
He said the outside of the facility is sound but the inside, like plumbing and HVAC, is showing age and wear and tear. It also has run out of space. Boyd said it was originally built for 160 inmates and today they have 400 plus after “5 or 6” expansions.
“Our county population has doubled since our current facility was built. I think if we expand, we are building more problems because of the location and floor plan,” Boyd said.
According to Boyd, if the current jail's floor plan is expanded, it would require a 15-20 percent increase in staffing due to its layout. However, a new jail could be staffed with the current number of staff.
“Every day we are having to juggle who can we let out early and make room for someone coming in who is worse,” Boyd said. “That’s the point we’ve been out for some time.”
County Judge Marvin Day said the issue would appear in front of the Quorum Court as two ordinances. One ordinance to propose the tax and another to put the tax on the ballot.
The Quorum Court meets next on June 24th at the Craighead County Annex Basement at 5:30 p.m.
