Franklin County officials gear up for jail plan vote

OZARK -- Franklin County officials estimate they will be ready to vote at next month's Quorum Court meeting on an action plan to build a new jail to resolve chronic violations of state jail standards.

At a Quorum Court meeting Thursday, County Judge Rickey Bowman asked members to help gather information to draw up an action plan by an Aug. 15 deadline to present to the state Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committee for the 5th Judicial District.

The report of the latest jail inspection Nov. 24 said the county "has a number of serious issues and critical deficiencies" and failed to comply with minimum facility standards in the 42-year-old jail.

The report said the review committee would meet with Sheriff Anthony Boen on Aug. 15.

"At that time, Franklin County will showcase their improvement/compliance plan," the report said. "Failure to produce a serious and deliberate plan will result in a request to close and/or modify jail operations."

Bowman said the committee is requiring the county find a site for the jail, hire a consultant to design the jail, commit to hire a bond company for project financing, and determine the source of revenue to pay for construction, maintenance and operation of the new jail.

Quorum Court members didn't say Thursday how they would come up with the money but mentioned other counties used sales taxes to pay for expenses.

A 1 percent sales tax in Franklin County generates about $1.8 million a year, Bowman said.

The result for not meeting the deadline, Bowman told Quorum Court members, could be closing the jail and/or reverting it to a 24-hour lockup. Even then, Bowman said, the jail wouldn't be in compliance for a 24-hour facility.

A 24-hour lockup allows arrestees to be held for 24 hours. After that, they would have to be housed in a jail contracted to hold Franklin County prisoners. Bowman has said it could cost around $720,000 a year to house prisoners in another county.

Operating expenses for the Franklin County jail last year totaled $620,000, according to one county official.

"I can't see how Franklin County can do that financially," he said.

Quorum Court members didn't appear to support a 24-hour facility but decided to gather information to gauge the affect it would have on the county.

Quorum Court member Chad Haberer said the group has to be prepared to explain the cost of a new jail versus a 24-hour facility when it tries to educate the public about the need.

"We want to be honest with the public and have good numbers for them and be as open as possible, because it's a serious issue, and no one wants to pay taxes," Bowman said.

Boen wasn't at the meeting and wasn't available for comment.

In a lengthy discussion Thursday, Quorum Court members talked about how much and what kind of information would be necessary to give the committee to comply with its order.

Lacey Neissl, a member of the Quorum Court's jail committee, said it recommended hiring jail builder SouthBuild of Collierville, Tenn. The committee met with its officials and believed they were ready to move forward, she said.

Neissl said the SouthBuild team would go to Ozark, meet with the committee, Boen, Bowman and others to work out needs and come up with a design and cost estimate.

The Quorum Court agreed to spend $16,000 to hire SouthBuild. Bowman said the payment wouldn't have to be made until construction started or if voters failed to approve funding a new jail.

Jail inspection reports issued by the jail review committee have been warning the county for years about the non-compliant conditions.

In a November 2014 letter, the state review panel coordinator wrote the jail was unsafe for inmates, staff and the residents.

The Sheriff's Office has experienced problems recently with inmates in the overcrowded jail.

According to Franklin County Circuit Court records, two men, Robert Ratcliff, 22, and Daniel Troxel, 30, both of Ozark, have been charged with inciting a riot, first-degree terroristic threatening and obstructing governmental operations.

An affidavit by a jail deputy stated a black trusty was walking to his cell when Troxel threw a cup of urine on him from his cell and yelled racial threats. Troxel and Ratcliff reached through the cell bars and tore at the trusty's shirt as he retreated, causing minor injuries.

When the trusty tried to get to his cell a second time, the affidavit said, several inmates in two cells lined up against the bars and chanted racial slurs.

NW News on 06/14/2016

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