LITTLE ROCK — Politicians hailed the 1994 deal to use the North Little Rock jail as a center for juvenile offenders as a cost-saving measure to help the city and the state.
Four years later, Gov. Mike Huckabee has ordered that the Observation and Assessment Center close within 60 days. The 61 children who were at the center Friday will move to other state centers.
Huckabee's decision comes amid allegations of abuse of children in the state's custody. Boys have alleged they were beaten and sexually assaulted at the center, which the Youth Services Division runs. The division is part of the state Department of Human Services.
In 1994, then-Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and Human Services Department officials were looking for a place to assess juvenile delinquents for medical and emotional problems.
At the same time, the North Little Rock jail was facing closure after the Pulaski County jail opened in August 1994. Most city jails in Pulaski County closed when the $35 million county jail opened its doors.
North Little Rock began building the jail in 1988 and financed the $2.1 million in construction through a 20-year bond issue. The bonds will be paid off in 2008.
The county leased the jail for $1 a year from North Little Rock in a 1990 agreement and ran it as part of the regional jail system.
Under the 1990 agreement, the county took over the bond payments, about $156,000 a year.
The county had planned to continue operating the North Little Rock jail, but officials decided they couldn't afford to keep it open.
Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines said he doesn't remember who thought of the plan to lease the North Little Rock jail. But he said he does recall that the state needed a center for juveniles and North Little Rock needed to pay off its bond on the building.
"At the time it seemed beneficial," Villines said. "They needed a building fairly quickly, and we had one."
North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Henry Hays said Wednesday that state officials thought of leasing the jail. "They thought our site was perfect for a variety of reasons but would take some renovations."
Tom Dalton, Human Services director in 1994, said Wednesday that state officials decided to use a central-assessment center after some communities complained that programs for serious juvenile offenders were moving into their areas.
The North Little Rock jail was a likely choice because urban residents were already used to living near a jail, Dalton said.
During a September 1994 tour of the North Little Rock jail, Tucker said it would save the state millions of dollars in construction.
During that tour Hays said building a comparable center would cost between $5 million and $6 million.
The state spent about $1.3 million on renovations, which included a coat of paint in the hallways, conversion of former holding cells into classrooms and an exercise room facing the North Little Rock High School track.
In 1994, the state entered a lease agreement with Pulaski County. The state would pay the county $230,000 a year for the first five years of the lease and could renew for five more at $180,000 annually. In the agreement the state had to give 180 days' notice before moving out.
The $230,000 covers the bond payment and provides about $74,000 toward the Pulaski County jail's operation.
If the state terminates the lease, Villines said the county will have a "building without the funds to operate it."
Hays said he hopes the state would find a use for the jail rather than terminating its contract because jail space remains at a premium.
Human Services Department spokesman Joe Quinn said Wednesday that no decision about the jail's future has been made.