WALNUT RIDGE — Voters in a northeast Arkansas county will be asked this fall to approve a sales tax increase to help build and maintain a new jail.
Television station KAIT reported that the Lawrence County Quorum Court has approved placing a measure for a half-cent sales tax increase on the coming November ballot.
The Criminal Detention Facility Review Committee gave the county an October deadline to develop a plan that would either renovate, expand or rebuild the jail. If a plan wasn't decided by then, the committee said it would close the facility.
County Judge Dale Freeman said three-eighths of the tax increase would go toward the jail's construction and would expire in about 22 years. Freeman said the leftover one-eighth would go toward the facility's maintenance and would remain in place.