No cash means new jail empty

Newton County hunting options

Without money to operate the new jail in Newton County, Sheriff Keith Slape will continue to send prisoners to the lockup in Boone County at a daily rate of $35 each.

“We’ll just continue doing what we’re doing now using what resources are available to us,” Slape said.

A limited budget means Slape must decide whether to incarcerate someone sentenced to 30-60 days for misdemeanor offenses.

Slape and Warren Campbell, county judge in Newton County, plan in the next few days to regroup after voters rejected a proposed 0.75 percent sales tax that wouldhave paid for daily operating expenses of the new jail. The unofficial tally in the Nov. 6 election was 1,934 against the tax and 1,681 in favor.

Jail construction was completed in the summer.

“We need a jail here in the county,” Campbell said. “I thought there was going to be more people behind it this time. The way the economy is, people are strapped for money. A lot of people can’t afford for the tax to go up much now.”

Campbell said he’s not sure what other options the county has for paying to open and operate the jail. He said he anticipates another sales tax election on the matter, though he’s not sure when.

In November 2008, voters approved a 0.50 percent sales tax to pay for the jail construction, and that tax has been collected for three years now, Campbell said. The money collected, about $200,000 annually, is being used to pay a $1.55 million bond issue that funded construction.

Campbell was not in office when the sales tax to build the jail passed, but he oversaw the construction, which started in December 2011.

The county would have had to pay back the sales tax money if the jail had not been built, Campbell said.

The sales tax increase to build the jail passed by a vote of 2,025 to 1,889, County Treasurer Jolena Breedlove said. However, in the same election, the vote on a sales tax to operate it failed 1,979 to 894.

Most counties pay for jail operations out of general revenue funds, said Ronnie Baldwin, executive director of the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association. When sales taxes are used to pay for jails, some counties phrase the ballot questions to allow a portion of the levy to be used for ongoing expenses.

Newton County is among five counties in the state that don’t have county-run jails, Baldwin said. Grant County relies on a city jail. Lee and Chicot counties contract with the state Department of Correction to house prisoners in regional facilities. Desha County houses its prisoners in two city jails.

Voters in Newton and Baxter counties rejected sales tax proposals for jail operations, Baldwin said.

“They won’t pay to operate the jails to keep the bad guys off the streets,” he said.

At $35 per person per day, housing prisoners with sentences of six months or so adds up, he said. In October, Newton County was paying Boone County to hold 18 prisoners whose sentences ranged from one day to 31 days.

Most of the search warrants in Newton County arefor failure to appear in court or failure to comply with court orders, Slape said. He has only so much money to pay for imprisoning those who have 30-day and 60-day sentences. When executing a search warrant, he has to consider the charge and the seriousness of the offense.

“It’s a serious felony offense before you’re going to spend any time in jail,” Slape said. “That’s because I have such a small budget on the jail.”

Criminals are aware of the county’s limitations, Slape said, and in some cases do not take their punishments seriously because they may not have to go to jail. Judges have resorted to sentencing people to community service and other alternative penalties.

“We’re not having great luck,” Slape said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 11/16/2012

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