In public service, when the people at the ballot box say "no" to a proposed solution to a very real problem, it doesn't solve anything.
It does more clearly define what the public is willing, or unwilling, to accept in an effort to solve -- case in point -- Benton County's inadequate facilities for its criminal justice system. But the problem lingers.
In November 2022, voters handily rejected the Quorum Court's sales tax plan to fund what county leaders described as a vital jail expansion estimated to cost approximately $241 million. A lack of jail space, they said, was adversely affecting local efforts to hold people accountable for their criminal behaviors by forcing the county to release or not even incarcerate people facing time in jail.
The requested funding primarily focused on jail expansion and improvements, but the county also planned to incorporate a four-courtroom criminal justice complex into the jail expansion project. The courtrooms were going to be funded largely out of existing dollars, but solutions for a lack of court space in Benton County relied on the overall project to go forward.
The voters' rejection thwarted both the jail and courts plan even as the caseloads in Benton County's courts continue to grow. Their load of about 1,750 cases annually is the largest average among circuit judges in the state, a mere two years after a seventh judge provided some relief. County leaders anticipate a request for an eighth judge, including all associated staff, when the General Assembly convenes for a regular legislative session in 2025.
Since voters rejected the ballot measure, Benton County Judge Barry Moehring has been faced with managing county space in ways that resemble the old arcade game Whac-A-Mole. He's shuffled assessor and tax collector offices to another location to create new judicial space. But there's only so much anyone can do before actual new square footage is necessary.
Moehring recently advanced the next big step in solving Benton County's criminal justice crunch. And no, it doesn't involve a new tax (although sooner or later county voters will have to accept the responsibility for funding a criminal justice system that naturally accompanies being one of the most populous counties in the state).
Appearing before a committee of county justices of the peace, Moehring proposed selling two downtown buildings that house -- inadequately – two circuit courts: a building at 221 S. Main St. that now houses Judge Doug Schrantz's courtroom and what's known as the courthouse annex (formerly a post office) on Second Street, occupied by Judge Brad Karren.
The former is appraised at $4.6 million; the latter at $6.5 million.
Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson recently described the annex as a "terrible place" to try cases.
Anyone who hasn't been directly involved in a hearing or trial should be thankful. These are often tense affairs where serious disagreements (civil cases) and proceedings (criminal cases) that can result in someone's loss of liberty occur. That means they can be emotional, intense and at times violent. Just search "courtroom attack" on YouTube if you doubt it. Courtrooms must be designed to function smoothly even amid such volatility, with the safety of jurors, court staff, defendants, families and observers paramount.
Money from the sale of the two downtown properties -- total appraised value of $11.1 million -- can be combined with other funding to build two new courtrooms on the same property as the county's jail and juvenile detention center. A $25,000-square-foot facility, estimated to cost $16 million, would include office space for prosecutors and staff and provide more secure entrances, lobby space and restrooms capable of managing the needs of people involved in trials and hearings.
Moehring has done what a public official responsible for county facilities must do: Press ahead, regardless of obstacles, to find solutions to the needs of a fast-growing county.
Voters said "no" to a big solution, but Moehring and the county's justices of the peace could not just fold up the tent and go home. This proposed sale and construction project essentially answers the voters' call for the county to find another way. Even if the big solution would have better positioned the county for the future, this proposal is an example of making do with what you've got. Sometimes that's all a public official can do.
In any case, this is a responsible step forward that recognizes a serious need to restore better order to Benton County's courts. Will it do that for the next 50 years? Probably not, if Benton County keeps growing like it is. But it's heading in the right direction within the resources voters/taxpayers have been willing to provide.
Moving forward will be a wise decision by the Quorum Court.