street because the criminals knew there was no room at the previous facility. “I have been informed by the law enforcement com- munity that our current facility has helped to alleviate that problem.”
Te full jail also caused
problems in Jackson Coun- ty, too.
“Te jail overcrowding issue has been an extreme budgetary issue for the county,” County Judge Phil- lips said, “due to the inability and refusal to release violent and/or dangerous offenders back into the community. Te cost for the housing of these types of inmates can sometimes be extreme. “Inmates that may pose a danger to the commu- nity are not and will not be released. Tis creates issues of overtime for officers that should be required to come in and transport the inmates to other counties. It also creates tensions in the jail due to the violent nature of some of the inmates when the jail overcrowding prevents the separation of these violent offenders from the jail’s general population.” Jeff Yates, the Lawrence County sheriff, agreed. “If a deputy has to respond to a call and is not able to arrest a suspect,” he said, “it affects the public’s perception of law enforcement and the justice system. Te officer feels stress for not being able to perform the duties he or she were sworn to do. Also, it gives criminals the knowledge they can commit crimes without punishment of going immediately to jail.” Greene County Judge McMillon said he had learned some things from going through the process of building a jail. “Te biggest struggle is the general public’s misunderstand- ing that our jail cannot put somebody in jail, chain them to the wall, and feed them only bread and water,” he said. “Te Jail Standards exist because there is — and should be — a moral standard for treating even those who have com- mitted a most heinous crime. Tey are not required to have a steak-and-potato meal, but our jail administrator does have
Above: Greene County Sheriff David Carter and Greene County Judge Rusty McMillon check booking room monitors in the new Greene County Jail, which was built using funds from a 3/4-cent sales tax.
to abide to the standards as set by the state of Arkansas. Our facility was constructed as [minimally] as could be done with nothing showy about the exterior of the facility.” McMillon had some suggestions for county judges who might be about to start such a project:
• “Build as basic of a structure as the Jail Standards al- low. Te facility does not have to be, nor does it need to be, pretty.
•
“Appoint or hire a project manager to oversee the construction. By doing this, our project has remained under budget, despite the length of the construction.
• “Te individual cells are absolutely functional and provide an extra layer of discipline inside the walls of the facility. In hindsight, foregoing the second story of cells would be nice, as we have had a couple of situations where someone has [jumped or was pushed off] that second floor.
•
“Appoint a citizen panel to review and make recommen- dations for a facility update or change. I believe that was the best influencer for this project, as other attempts for construction in the past were met with defeat.”
Consultants from the Council of State Governments Justice Center, a na-
tional non-profit and non-partisan association of state government officials, presented “Justice Reinvestment in Arkansas” to the Legislative Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force on Feb. 17, 2016. Among the studies’ findings were that Arkansas has the fast- est growing prison population in the country and that the projected growth of Arkansas’ prison population will cost the state an additional $1.3 billion in spending on top of the half a billion dollars being spent annually now. The task force will consider these and other findings of the Justice Center as it pre- pares to implement changes in Arkansas’ criminal justice system. Go to our publications library at
www.arcounties.org and search “Justice” to access the center’s full report.
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