FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Washington County voters said no to a jail expansion during the 2022 Midterm Election.
According to election results, 59% of voters were against a 0.25% sales tax to expand the jail. This was for a maximum of $113.5 million.
Justice of the Peace Patrick Deakins says the jail expansion would be one of his top priorities as the upcoming County Judge.
"You only get one message from that, and that's the people want us to go back, roll up our sleeves, and look for other solutions to this problem," Deakins said. "The current situation of the jail is not sustainable. It's very dangerous for both officers and inmates alike. And so we have to relieve that pressure in some way."
Current Washington County Chief Deputy and now sheriff-elect Jay Cantrell says the jail is currently overcrowded, causing issues for its operations.
"It's harder on the infrastructure, you know, the toilets are used more, then showers are used more, it's just, it's just a more difficult situation for the detainees, for the deputies that are operating back there," Cantrell said.
"We got so many people sitting on the floor, we really can't afford to have a block open so we can actually do maintenance," said Detention Captain Nolan Akes.
Deakins says the first priority is to make the jail a safer operation for both detention officers and inmates. He says that could take working with other agencies and the state to move inmates with felony charges awaiting federal trials.
"There might be some alternative sentencing that could happen a little," said Deakins. "A lot of talk about opening up a mental health court, expanding our drug courts, expanding our veteran's courts, I think all those are very viable ideas."
"Everybody in this jail is a felon, we might have a misdemeanor that comes in," Ake said. "You come in for a DWI and nobody will come get you or take responsibility for you, then we'll hold you for eight hours or until you're sober and then turn you loose."
The overcrowding of the jail with inmates with felony charges has also presented another issue for the sheriff's office. Cantrell says they're releasing about half of the misdemeanors that come into the detention center. Both Deakins and Cantrell explained this could have long-term effects on the justice system of the county and how seriously punishments are viewed by repeat offenders.
When asked about what inmates were being released, county prosecutor Matt Durrett provided the following statement:
"This is the list I sent to Maj. Denzer a couple of years ago. This is still in effect, although when judges set bonds, they are releasing more people on their own recognizance than they used to, so my list isn’t used quite as much as before. We are also using the electronic monitoring program, which allows us to release more people who have failed to appear.
As we talked about last week, I’m okay with you all releasing certain detainees after booking without having to post a bond. I came up with some criteria that can be used to release them without having to contact a prosecutor to authorize a felony citation. If an arrestee meets the following criteria, I am authorizing a felony citation release under my name:"
1. The person has been arrested for one of the following offenses:
- All D felony drug offenses (with the exception of Delivery of a Controlled Substance)
- Any C felony straight possession offense
- Theft of Property (except for when the amount of the theft exceeds $25,000)
- Criminal Mischief
- Filing a False Police Report
- Forgery
- Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card
- Breaking or Entering
2. The person resides in Washington County or a neighboring in-state county.
3. The person has no prior convictions for a violent offense.
4. The person has no prior felony failure to appear in convictions.
"Individuals who meet these criteria can be released under my name using the same procedure used when a prosecutor is called and authorize the release. If you’ve got any questions, or if you have suggestions for offenses that I left out, please let me know."
Deakins explained that the pandemic slowed down the justice system which has also caused pressure on overcrowding.
"Courts are trying to work through those as hard as fast and as hard as they can. But in the meantime, if we're holding those inmates waiting on our court date or their day in court, they're backlogged in our jail now, and so it's very, it's a perfect storm of very negative effects in our jail right now that we need to try to mitigate."
According to the incoming sheriff, the county has funded plans for a jail Covid expansion. He says this would add some minimum security beds and separate some of the infrastructures for isolation. The sheriff-elect says it would be an $18-20 million expansion, which would have to go through quorum court, but would not require voter approval.
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