LITTLE ROCK — The Pulaski County sheriff and treasurer stood under the rotting roof of the old jail Tuesday with outstretched hands asking the public not for treats, but for $131,928 in donations to repair the roof - a first step toward reopening the building.
Donations to the "First Step" fundraising drive will go into a public safety fund - the Quorum Court has already chipped in $856,575 - to pay the $988,503 needed to repair the leaking roof and renovate the building's heating and air-conditioning systems, said Pulaski County Treasurer Debra Buckner and County Sheriff Doc Holladay during a news conference.
Even if the roof is repaired, Holladay said, the county won't have the money to increase the number of beds available for inmates - budget cuts have limited the number of beds available for the past two years.
For more information see today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Subscribers can read the story here on ArkansasOnline.