The Craighead County Quorum Court Monday night heard the final reading of an ordinance to place a funding proposal for the jail on the November ballot after much discussion.
The ordinance asks voters to approve issuing $105 million in capital improvement bonds toward expanding and or constructing a new jail. If voters approve it, the county will levy a half-cent sales tax until the bond is paid.
Sheriff Marty Boyd spoke first to the court about the current issue of running the detention center as is. He said ultimately this is a public safety issue.
“Public safety has never been free, unfortunately,” Boyd said. “We have to decide if we want to invest in Craighead County for the future. I know times are hard, it’s not easy to say we're looking for a sales tax.”
Boyd said that was the only way he felt the county could move forward and deal with the issue. The facility was built in 1990 to accommodate 130 inmates; the jail now houses over 400.
“Currently right now it's dangerous for my officers that work there,” Boyd said.
Boyd said every day they have to juggle who needs to be in jail worse than the next person who is coming in. He added that he wanted to make sure there were consequences for anyone who broke the law.
“Unfortunately, we're in a situation where there's no consequences for a lot of low-level crimes. And in my opinion, what that does, that takes a low-level offender and turns them into a felon,” Boyd said.
The Quorum court also heard from Bill Rutherford, a partner in a firm in Florida, CRA Architects. County Judge Marvin Day said he and Boyd had been introduced to Rutherford from a former jail administrator in Greene County.
Rutherford showed samples and ideas of what a new detention center could look like for Craighead County.
“Jails are a unique animal. People who pay for them never see them and the people who use them never pay for them,” Rutherford said.
He also said a general rule of thumb for communities close to Craighead County’s size is that about six people out of every thousand will be locked up at some point.
Currently, Rutherford says bed costs can be between $100 thousand to $110 thousand a bed. That number includes food service, laundry, and other services.
The County Attorney, Kimberly Dale, was also in attendance. She had been requested by Justice of the Peace for District 2 Garret Barnes for questions. Dale was not present for the first two readings of the ordinance.
Barnes asked whether the Quorum Court would have approval of construction plans if the issue is added to the ballot as-is and passed during the election.
“Of course, any particular bond issues will have to come back before the Quorum Court,” Dale responded. “The picking of the architects and some of the contractors, that's a procurement item that is generally left to the CEO of the county, which would be Judge Day.”
JP Darrell Cook said he felt like they had no say so on how the new detention center was budgeted.
“I agree we need a new jail but for 35 years someone has dropped the ball on maintenance. The current jail has got so many things wrong and it keeps being patched,” Cook said.
Cook went on to say some of the preventive maintenance may have probably helped but he feels that it hasn't been kept up well.
“I think your information is outdated or incorrect,” Day responded. “We’ve been replacing those items.”
Cook said though the Quorum Court passes the budget they don’t see how it's spent.
“It needs to be where we as a Quorum Court don’t just have an open checkbook,” Cook said. “It would be nice to let the public know. The public calls us and I don't think any of us can answer the questions.”
Boyd addressed Cook and said of his two employees that run maintenance he’s very proud of them and they work tirelessly to stretch every penny.
“Here's a problem, the jail locking system is outdated and has been for 25 years. There’s no manufacturer for the parts. They have to go in and piece it together trying to keep it working. The cost is $812,000 I believe to replace. That's the decision.” Boyd said.
Shanoa Summers during public comment said she agreed with Cook that the maintenance has not been kept up.
“I do not support the expansion of the jail either,” Summers said. “We don't need to be locking up or seeking out more people to lock up. We need to be looking into the root causes of why there is so much low-level crime and address that.”
The Quorum Court ultimately passed the ordinance 12-1. It will be sent to the election commission to prepare for the November ballot.
