BENTONVILLE -- Benton County began work Tuesday morning on a project to add 32 spaces for misdemeanor inmates at the jail, according to Benton County Judge Bob Clinard.
Clinard told the Public Safety Committee the work could be completed in 30 days and will cost about $30,000. The money for the work is available in the 2015 budget.
What’s Next
Benton County’s Public Safety Committee will resume discussion of the county’s proposed court building when the panel meets at 6 p.m. April 27 in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave.
Source: Staff Report
The jail has been turning away misdemeanor inmates for some time because the available space was being used for felony offenders. Two of the district court judges asked the Quorum Court recently to support a plan to provide space for misdemeanor offenders, saying their inability to sentence offenders to any jail time hampers the operation of their courts.
The county is also examining a larger expansion plan for the jail costing about $1.8 million to $1.9 million. That expansion, if money is approved by the justices of the peace, would add 60 beds for misdemeanor inmates and 12 cells for women at the jail. The expansion would also add space for training and administrative offices being moved to make room for misdemeanor inmates.
Clinard said he'll have the architect for the project include conceptual work on adding another pod to the jail that would increase its capacity by 150 to 200 inmates. The jail has bed space for 589 inmates but is generally considered full with fewer inmates because legal requirements to separate the inmates by a variety of categories.
The justices of the peace also agreed to have Clinard proceed with hiring an architect to design the expansion for misdemeanor inmates and women.
The justices of the peace also began comparing locations for a new courts building, with a downtown Bentonville option stacking up against a site on Southwest 14th Street, adjacent to the jail.
Clinard spoke to the committee about the two alternatives, giving his view on the merits of the two plans. As county judge, Clinard will recommend the plan he wants the county to adopt. The justices of the peace will decide whether to fund the project.
The justices of the peace heard separate briefings on the two plans last month. The plan for the 14th Street location includes a three-story building with 100,000 square-feet of space for six courtrooms, six circuit judges and their staffs, offices for the Prosecuting Attorney and Public Defender, and other county offices.
The plan allows for expansion to provide another 50,000 square-feet of office space. The plans has 475 public parking spaces, with another 72 secure parking spaces. The plan shows room to add parking as needed if the building is expanded. The plan has an estimated budget of $24 million.
The plan for the downtown Bentonville project calls for a four-story building on Second Street with space for five courtrooms and related offices and shell space for two courtrooms to be built in the future. A sky walk would connect the new building with the county courthouse. The downtown project has a cost of $31.2 million when renovations to courthouse and the courts annex are included. Construction costs for the downtown project is about $24 million.
The downtown plan addressed concerns over parking space, estimating the project would add 101 spaces within a one-block radius of the courthouse. The plan shows about 600 spaces available within a one-block radius of the courts facilities. The plan also proposed to make use of 113 spaces in the parking deck of the 21C Hotel on days when the county is calling a jury pool to court.
Clinard graded the two proposals on a ranking of A being excellent, B being good, C being average and D being less than average. He ranked the plans on issues from traffic and parking to "constructability," disruption of court operations during construction, future expansion possibilities and the future use of the existing courthouse. In each instance, Clinard gave the 14th Street location a higher grade.
NW News on 04/08/2015