Lawrence County may have to build a new jail. County Judge Dale Freeman tells the Sun newspaper chronic overcrowding of prisoners, outdated and obsolete equipment, and the condition of facilities are red flags that are expected to be noted by the Arkansas Jail Standards Committee. At the very least, the committee could issue a strong warning about the condition of the jail, or the committee could recommend closing the jail. Some members of the Lawrence County Quorum Court echo Freeman’s belief that voters may be asked to support a sales tax for building a new county jail. If a tax did not pass, Freeman says shipping prisoners to another facility would cost the county 45 dollars per prisoner per day, which he says could bankrupt the county. Voters approved a sales tax last year that supported the county’s hospital system, and the Lawrence County School District is expected to ask for a millage increase this fall. Freeman did not say when officials would ask for a special election.
Johnathan Reaves is the faculty advisor and editor-in-chief for Delta Digital News Service and the former News Director for KASU Public Radio. As part of an Air Force Family, he moved to Arkansas from Minot, North Dakota in 1986. He was first bitten by the radio bug after he graduated from Gosnell High School in 1992. While working on his undergraduate degree, he worked at KOSE, a small 1,000 watt AM commercial station in Osceola, Arkansas. Upon graduation from Arkansas State University in 1996 with a degree in Radio-Television Broadcast News, he decided that he wanted to stay in radio news. He moved to Stuttgart, Arkansas and worked for East Arkansas Broadcasters as news director and was there for 16 years.