Search Jonesboro Yellow Pages

Crowded conditions in Arkansas’ prison system have been a problem for many years, and the problem is now contributing to a crisis in many county jails, which have to hold people committed to prison until the space is available. We’ve gotten tough enough on crime and successful enough in prosecuting criminals that we’ve created a “monster” with an insatiable appetite.

The other side of the equation is that the people who commit crimes are the monster, and the rest of us are better off locking them up.

Unfortunately, we can’t seem to afford our success.

The Arkansas Times recently published an in-depth story exploring many sides of the issue and pinpointing the impact of prison overcrowding on county jails. Because the state can’t build prisons fast enough, county jails have to hold for months many defendants sentenced to prison.

The sheriffs who operate those jails are expected to keep them in compliance with state standards, standards designed to ensure that the jails do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Jail standards are enforced by the state Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committee, which has the authority to close a non-conforming jail down. That doesn’t happen often because committee members are well aware of the consequences: The prisoners being held in such a jail would probably have to be turned loose.

Apparently, what happens is that the committee turns a blind eye to many shortcomings.

The Times reported that Al Garrett, appointed earlier this year by Gov. Mike Beebe to serve on an inspection committee, was “shocked” by what he considered “sloppy inspections” and the “fraudulent reports” that resulted.

And yet here, according to the Times, are some examples of recent inspection reports sent to county judges in Northeast Arkansas:

• Fulton County: “insufficient staff,” “very dangerous for inmates and staff,” “visitation very dangerous.”

• Jackson County: “holding more than double capacity,” “insufficient staff,” “growing problems,” “potential for a great disaster to happen.”

• Sharp: “Badly understaffed,” “a dangerous situation waiting to happen.”

Great places to hold dangerous criminals, huh?

A Sun story in August reported on what sheriffs in several NEA counties are doing to cope with the exploding jail and prison populations. Officials in Randolph, Lawrence, Sharp and Jackson counties have had some conversations about building a regional jail, and that’s an excellent idea because such a jail could be run more efficiently.

But the political reality is that financing any kind of new jail is nearly impossible, especially in bad economic times. People in many communities won’t even pass a school tax increase, and jail proposals can’t get off the ground. Imagine trying to pass, for example, a bond issue in four counties at the same time.

The common argument is: “Why should we pay more money to build a ‘country club’ for criminals?”

The answer, of course, is to punish the criminals and keep them from doing more damage to us, but that argument doesn’t seem to overcome the negative attitudes.

The Arkansas Department of Correction is now housing some 16,000 inmates, a 30 percent increase over 2000, and the prison population is growing at a rate of 66 inmates a month. The Times reported that the 72 county jails for adults held another 8,500 inmates as of October, perhaps about 1,000 waiting for space in state facilities.

The prison system estimates it costs $62.61 a day to house an inmate — $22,853 a year, enough to send a kid to college. But the state pays the county jails only $28 a day, the same rate it has for at least 10 years, for those inmates it can’t take yet.

We’ve got to face up to what “getting tough on crime” really means in financial terms.

—Roy Ockert Jr.