Benton County ready for jail expansion

Benton County officials are considering expanding the jail.
Benton County officials are considering expanding the jail.

BENTONVILLE -- An expansion of the Benton County Jail should provide for the county's needs for the next several years, County Judge Bob Clinard said Thursday.

The county is about to begin a $2 million project to add space for misdemeanor inmates and new secure holding cells for female inmates.

Jail growth

Benton County’s jail opened in 1999 with about 250 inmates. The jail can hold about 650 inmates, but county officials are adding space for misdemeanor inmates and women, who must be housed in separate areas to meet state and federal regulations.

Source: Benton County Sheriff’s Office

"No one can predict the future, but to the best of our ability to determine, this should last the county for some time," Clinard said.

The expansion was approved last year after some of the district court judges went to the Quorum Court to lobby for space for misdemeanor inmates.

With the limited space available in the jail, misdemeanor inmates were being taken to the jail and released on citation, rather than held as they intended, the judges said. The county did a smaller project last year, remodelling some space, to add about 32 beds for misdemeanor inmates only. The project eliminated some office space and training areas that will be restored in the expansion, said Maj. Jeremy Guyll, jail administrator.

District Court Judge Paul Bridges said the addition for misdemeanor inmates will allow his court to have the full range of sentencing options it needs. If defendants know they won't serve any jail time, the court loses that as a deterrent, he told the justices of the peace.

The jail has a capacity of 710 prisoners, but can't hold that many and follow state and federal regulations requiring inmates be separated according to several criteria, Guyll said.

"In actuality, we're full at about 650 or 660 inmates," Guyll said. "It all depends on the nature of the jail population."

The jail has to separate males and females, Guyll said. Misdemeanor inmates and felons have to be separated. Felony prisoners also have to be separated according to whether they are being held as pre-trial prisoners or post-conviction and sentencing prisoners. Sex offenders have to be kept separate and the jail has to have room to keep inmates in protective custody and space for administrative segregation, or separation of inmates who are disciplinary problems in the jail. Work release inmates and trusty inmates are housed separately. Federal prisoners being held in the jail have to be separated from other inmates.

"All these inmates have to be segregated according to jail standards," Guyll said.

The expansion will provide space for another 40 to 45 misdemeanor inmates and give the jail six security cells for women inmates, Guyll said. Those cells could hold up to 12 inmates. The security cells for women will be built in space now used to hold women to provide the maximum level of supervision. Additional space for women will be added to the exterior of the barracks. The expansion will also restore space for training and other administrative needs, Guyll said.

"It's not all for inmate space," he said. "When we did that first update, we gave up our training room. Right now, we have no training room, no briefing room. I've got three training guys in one little office. Our gym and showers will be moved to this new area also."

The architects who designed the misdemeanor and women's cells expansion also were asked to do some preliminary work on a possible addition of another felony pod, Clinard said. The jail was designed for expansion, but two small storage buildings, a helicopter pad and support building have since been placed in the area left for expansion, he said.

"We don't know when it might be needed, but we want to be sure it will work," Clinard said.

Joel Jones, justice of the peace and chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said expansion for felony prisoners isn't a priority.

"They haven't come to us and told us they're completely out of felony space," Jones said. "What they've told us is they're out of space for misdemeanors and they needed the cells for women. The district judges said they use it as a last resort, but they need to have the ability to send someone to jail. It allows them to have their full repertoire of consequences."

The justices of the peace should shift their attention back to the proposed courts facility, Jones said. County officials have discussed options for a new building or an expansion of the downtown facilities for the past few years. A report on the county's needs and the feasibility of locations in downtown Bentonville or on county property on Southwest 14th Street should be done by the end of May, Clinard said. The Public Safety Committee will meet to consider the recommendations of the consultants once the report is done.

"I think that's our next priority," Jones said.

NW News on 05/13/2016

Upcoming Events