No preliminary results were available on a Newton County ballot issue to raise the sales tax by three-fourths of a percentage point to provide funds to operate the county’s new jail.
County voters approved a half-percent sales tax in 2008 to pay for construction of the jail, but a second tax to pay for operation of the jail failed.
The former jail, built in 1904, was deemed unsafe by the Arkansas Criminal Detention Facility Review Committee in 2008 and was shut down in July 2009. The county then began transferring prisoners 20 miles away to the Boone County jail in Harrison.
Since then, Newton County has been paying Boone County $35 a day to house its inmates, totaling about $5,000 a month, said Sheriff Keith Slape. Problems with the county’s original jail site delayed construction.
The new 5,172-square-foot jail in Jasper has been sitting empty since construction wrapped up this summer.
Passage of the current tax proposal would mean the county will finally have funds to operate its own jail. The tax is estimated to raise $270,000 each year. The new jail can house 30 inmates.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 11/07/2012