BENTONVILLE -- Plans for two expansion projects at the Benton County jail will be complete in January.
County Judge Bob Clinard told the Quorum Court last week that plans for the projects were 85 percent complete, and he expects to seek construction bids in late January. The plans provide for additional space for misdemeanor offenders and more secure holding cells for women inmates.
County Jail
The Benton County Jail is a 100,355-square-foot facility with an inmate capacity of 508. The administrative office area of the facility is 16,938 square feet. The total cost of the facility including the acquisition of the land was $16.8 million. A half-percent county jail tax paid for the project.
Source: Benton County
"We're anticipating those plans to be finished by Jan. 11 so we can go out for bids," Clinard said. "They are also working on long-term plans as to what might be needed down the road for expansion of the jail. That would include possible location of a new pod, the number of inmates it might hold."
The short-term expansions are part of plans already endorsed by the Quorum Court. The jail has added about 30 spaces for misdemeanor prisoners, and the proposed expansion will provide room for about 45 more. The jail also will add six security cells for women prisoners, with double bunking. The cells could house up to a dozen women inmates who require the added security surroundings, Clinard said.
Construction work should take about seven months if the Quorum Court approves funding, once the county advertises for bids and sees the results. The exact schedule can't be set yet, Clinard said.
"The time frame is 100 percent dependent on when we get the plans finished," he said. "We'll go out for bids and then take it to the Quorum Court. It looks to me, if we get bids around the first of February, it won't be a final appropriation until the end of February, then possibly seven months to complete the project. It should be ready to be occupied by the end of 2016 or the start of 2017."
Another jail expansion being considered is a long-term project that would add another pod for felony offenders. The size and location of the addition and the number of inmates it might house are among questions to be determined by the architects. The county also will consider what the state will do to reduce prison overcrowding and how it pays to hold state prisoners in county jails, Clinard said.
"About a third of the prisoners out there now are state inmates," Clinard said.
The prospect of having fewer state inmates in the county jail has some justices of the peace inclined to wait before expanding the jail. Justice of the Peace Pat Adams said the county has several other expensive projects to deal with in the near future.
"I've heard estimates from $12 million to $16 million to put another pod out there," Adams said. "If the state ships out enough prisoners, I'm not sure we want to spend that much money on the jail. In a couple of years, after we get through with the courts building and War Eagle Bridge, we'll know at that time if we need that pod out there."
Justice of the Peace Kevin Harrison is less than optimistic about the state taking any action that will help with jail overcrowding issues.
"It's going to require them to expand the prisons, and from what I hear, they're not interested. This is not a new subject for the state, and they've made no preparations to do anything," Harrison said.
Benton County's jail overcrowding problems will worsen as long as the county keeps growing in population, Harrison said.
"We're going to have to look at doing something just for the county," he said. "As the county grows, our crime rate grows. I don't think a long-term expansion wouldn't be used."
Joel Jones, a justice of the peace and chairman of the county's Public Safety Committee, said the long-term expansion will be discussed for his committee early in 2016. Jones is uncertain what the state may do and how the county should proceed.
"I keep hearing things. There's lots of information about the state prisons and how they're going to revisit things like parole requirements and adding space," Jones said. "I don't know how I feel about the long-term plans for the county jail. If it's going to stay full, we're going to have to do something."
Metro on 12/26/2015