Crawford County jail fee ordinance fails to get approval

Crawford County District 11 Justice of the Peace Craig Wahlmeier speaks during the Crawford County Quorum Court regular meeting Monday. 
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Saccente)
Crawford County District 11 Justice of the Peace Craig Wahlmeier speaks during the Crawford County Quorum Court regular meeting Monday. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Saccente)

VAN BUREN -- An ordinance to lessen how much Crawford County municipalities pay to house inmates at the county jail at the expense of the county didn't get the votes it needed to pass.

The Quorum Court voted 6-6 to approve changing the daily jail fees the municipalities are charged during its meeting Monday. One of the justices of the peace, District 1's Jason Cox, wasn't present.

The ordinance, had it passed, states the jail would assess a $40 "initial holding fee," which would be applied to the first calendar day an inmate is held there. The jail would then assess a $40 daily fee starting on the second calendar day and every following day the inmate is held at the facility. However, the jail would waive the daily fee for the day the inmate is released.

Municipalities are charged $40 for each day a municipality prisoner is housed at the jail as per a county ordinance approved in 2018.

Justice of the peace Craig Wahlmeier of District 11, who wrote and sponsored the proposal Monday, said some of the county's smaller municipalities felt they were being overcharged. Under the current ordinance, for example, if someone from a municipality is booked into the jail at 10 p.m. and is released the following morning, that municipality is charged for both days despite the fact the inmate hadn't been held at the jail for 24 hours.

"A smaller community with a smaller budget, this is impactful," Wahlmeier said. "And so we tried to just, from a fairness standpoint, recoup what was owed to the county, but not go beyond that."

Wahlmeier previously said another concern the mayors had was if someone with warrants out of multiple municipalities is arrested, the county charges all those municipalities for the same time in jail.

Wahlmeier said the Crawford County Sheriff's Office and mayors provided feedback on proposal before the meeting. Cedarville Mayor Mark Isenhower, for his part, expressed support.

The Crawford County cities of Dyer, Van Buren, Alma, Cedarville, Kibler, Mountainburg and Mulberry would have saved a total of more than $104,000 in 2019 and more than $77,000 in 2020 in jail fees had the proposal been in effect, according to calculations provided by Wahlmeier from the Sheriff's Office.

Crawford County has a population of 63,257, according to the most recent U.S. Census estimate from July 1, 2019.

Upcoming Events