JPs to vote on a plan to resolve jail failings

OZARK -- The Franklin County Quorum Court will vote next month on a plan laying out how it will approach resolving its deficient jail.

The plan will be in the form of a resolution or ordinance to comply with an order to present a plan to the state Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committee for the 5th Judicial Circuit by Aug. 15.

"At that time, Franklin County will showcase their improvements/compliance plan," the committee's 2015 jail inspection report said. "Failure to produce a serious and deliberate plan will result in a request to close and/or modify jail operations."

The Quorum Court and Sheriff Anthony Boen have been discussing the possibility of building a jail to replace the 42-year-old lockup that has violated state standards for years.

Boen said last week that, among other things, the jail doesn't have adequate space for county prisoners, the limited space doesn't allow for the separation of inmates by classification as required by law, dispatchers double as jailers and risk their effectiveness at both positions, and the facility is deteriorating. For example, its cell locks are failing.

County Judge Rickey Bowman told Quorum Court members last month that the jail inspection committee is requiring the county to find a site for the new jail, hire a consultant to design it, commit to hiring a bond company for project financing, and determine a source of revenue that will pay for construction, maintenance and operation of a new jail.

After a lengthy discussion at the Quorum Court's monthly meeting last week, the members and Bowman agreed the plan does not have to include solutions by mid-August but must show how they will find those solutions.

At the meeting, Quorum Court members discussed a few of the avenues being pursued. They included Bowman's discussions with the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District for an analysis of the jail's needs. Additionally, Boen wrote a letter to the National Institute of Corrections inquiring about a similar needs analysis.

A Quorum Court jail committee has met with jail builder SouthBuild of Collierville, Tenn., and has recommended hiring the firm to move forward with construction.

The county owns 4 or 5 acres on Airport Road in north Ozark, but Bowman and Quorum Court members were unsure if that tract has enough space for an 80- to 100-bed jail.

Bowman said he has talked with several county judges over the past month about the cost of housing Franklin County prisoners if the county is forced to close the jail.

He said Carroll, Scott and Conway counties would house Franklin County prisoners for $35 to $38 per prisoner per day, which he said is less than the $50 daily rate charged by Washington County.

Quorum Court member Mary Cains said the county still would have to pay for transporting prisoners to and from the county, taking deputies away from other duties.

State Desk on 07/21/2016

Upcoming Events