BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials and state legislators discussed the problem of overcrowding in jails with an eye toward crafting a solution for the 2017 session of the Legislature.
The Legislative Committee hosted four state representatives Thursday and asked them to help with the problem. The lawmakers -- Jim Dotson, Dan Douglas, Sue Scott and Rebecca Petty -- said they are anxious to work with the counties but cautioned solving the problems may take time.
Legislative Sessions
The Arkansas General Assembly meets in general session in odd-numbered years and in a fiscal session to consider budget matters in even-numbered years. The next regular session will be in 2017.
Source: Staff Report
Benton County's jail holds about 220 inmates who have been sentenced to time in prison but remain in the jail because of a lack of bed space in the prison system. Statewide about 2,200 "state inmates" are being held in county jails.
Kevin Harrison, justice of the peace for District 5 and committee chairman, said the county's average cost to hold a prisoner is about $48 a day while the state only pays $28.
"We have to house state prisoners and the state gets to set the rate they're going to pay us," he said. "There's really no recourse."
Harrison said he wants to see legislation giving counties the authority to refuse to hold state prisoners when jails near capacity and to increase the amount paid to counties for the prisoners they hold.
"We feel like we're being taken advantage of," he said.
Douglas, state representative for District 91, said the Legislature and Gov. Asa Hutchinson have increased the money allotted to pay counties for holding state prisoners by about $11.2 million. The state has also agreed to increase the daily rate paid the counties for holding state prisoners from $28 to $30.
He said the state has also reached agreements to move some state prisoners to Texas and to a Pulaski County facility to relieve some of the backlog in county jails. He said $100 million in tax cuts approved by the Legislature reduced the amount of money available for state government to spend.
"So there's some relief on that," Douglas told the panel. "But we do have budget constraints just like the county. We have needs. We need money for roads, for our human development centers so we can continue to grow jobs. The pie is not big enough. It's not a big enough pie for everybody to get what they want and still cut taxes and grow jobs. All I can say is we'll continue looking at it and make it one of our priority issues."
The unequal division of Benton County's road tax revenue between the county and three cities was another point of discussion at Thursday's meeting, with the justices of the peace debating the merits of a new challenge to state law.
Benton County levies a road tax of 1.9 mills. The tax is assessed on the real and personal property of all residents, including those living in the cities. State law generally divides the revenue collected from city residents evenly between the city and the county but Bentonville, Rogers and Siloam Springs each receive 90 percent of the revenue collected within those cities under Act 219 of 1963. The state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the act in a court case decided in 2008.
Changing the division of the tax could net the county more money. According to information from the Collector's Office. the road tax raised $416,403 in 2013. Bentonville received $1,463,313 while Rogers received $1,971,294 and Siloam Springs received $313,027.
If the tax had been divided on a 50-50 basis, the county would have received $1,665,615, an increase of 80 percent. Bentonville's share of the tax revenue would have been $812,951 while Rogers would have received $1,095,163 and Siloam Springs $173,903.
"What we're hoping is maybe the Legislature will repeal that little piece of the law so we can get a better distribution," Harrison said of the 90-10 division.
Shirley Sandlin, justice of the peace for District 8, said the 90-10 split is unfair and needs to be changed.
"I don't think that can be described as equitable any way you slice it," she said. "Share and share alike is all we're asking."
The justices of the peace and the legislators agreed better communication is the key to more effectively addressing the concerns of the county. Harrison said he plans more frequent committee meetings and hopes legislators will be able to attend them so possible issues can be worked on in advance of the next session of the Legislature.
NW News on 04/10/2015