Panel urges cuts to fund jail hires

Sebastian County JPs weigh getting rid of Ben Geren Regional Park

FORT SMITH — The Sebastian County Quorum Court has told County Judge David Hudson to evaluate cutting 3 percent from all general fund budgets to try to come up with money to hire more jailers.

After a lively and sometimes contentious discussion at Tuesday’s meeting, during which they weighed getting rid of the county’s 1,000-acre Ben Geren Regional Park, justices of the peace decided to consider trimming general fund budgets instead.

Quorum Court member Jackie Davis of Greenwood complained that the county continued to pour money into the park even though it loses money every year while needs of the county jail go unmet.

The park and 27-hole golf course will get nearly $570,000 from the county general fund this year to bolster its budget estimates of $734,500 in revenue and $1.3 million in expenses.

Hudson said Wednesday that he met with elected officials and department heads to discuss cutting their budgets. He said he planned

to have a report ready for Quorum Court members by next month’s meeting.

County Assessor Zach Johnson said Wednesday that he would have to see where reductions in his office, if any, could be made.

“I would much rather find areas to cut back a little on rather than to push some new burden on to the citizens,” he said.

Circuit Court Clerk Denora Coomer said she and other elected officials were aware of the jail overcrowding and efforts to respond to the problem with diversion programs.

Coomer said she spent 95 percent of her budget last year “so there is some wiggle room.” If cuts are made, she said, she hoped the Quorum Court would review department needs and restore some cuts if necessary.

The Quorum Court is looking for ways to come up with $676,000 the sheriff’s office estimates it needs to hire 14 additional jail employees. Consultant LaSalle Corrections of Ruston, La., recommended the department would need the additional jailers to properly staff an expansion of the county jail.

The Quorum Court voted in November to renovate the sheriff’s office building to add space for 94 dormitory-style beds and eight maximum security beds, at a cost of about $3 million.

Hudson said the county could finance most of the remodeling with revenue from the county’s portion of a countywide sales tax until the tax expires in 2024.

The sheriff would move out of its downtown Fort Smith location to the county’s Emergency Operations Center building on the south edge of the city. It would cost about $900,000 to renovate the center to accommodate the sheriff’s office and current tenants, according to estimates.

Quorum Court member Danny Aldridge of Fort Smith suggested that the sheriff’s office start moving to the Emergency Operations Center while debate continued on funding for the additional jailers. The Quorum Court took no action on his proposal.

The county has no other source of revenue to tap to hire the 14 jailers. In addition to dumping Ben Geren park, Quorum Court members have discussed asking voters to approve a one-eighth percent sales tax to raise the $676,000.

At one time, Hudson said he hoped the county could offset the cost of the jail staff by increasing the number of misdemeanor prisoners, for which the county can bill cities for holding them. The county charges $54 a day to hold a misdemeanor prisoner.

But the number of those billable prisoners has plummeted in recent years because of a corresponding increase in felony prisoners, Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck said. He said he can’t hold people charged with misdemeanors and allow violent felons to remain free.

His office presented statistics that showed the average daily number of city misdemeanor prisoners in the county jail started dropping in 2013. In that year, the average daily count was 43. In 2014, the average daily number of city misdemeanor prisoners dropped to 23. The sheriff estimated the county would hold an average of 20 misdemeanor prisoners a day this year.

Circuit court records showed an average of 1,478 criminal cases were filed yearly from 2010 to 2014. The average number of cases filed from 2015 to 2017 rose to 1,799.

Revenue also fell, according to jail records. From 2011 to 2013, the annual average revenue from housing city misdemeanor prisoners was $742,456. From 2014 to 2017, the average fell to $411,107. It was estimated that city misdemeanor prisoner revenue would total $400,000 this year.

The county also gets revenue from holding U.S. Marshals Service prisoners and reimbursement from the Arkansas Department of Correction for sentenced prisoners waiting for prison space.

“I would much rather find areas to cut back a little on rather than to push some new burden on to the citizens.” — Zach Johnson, Sebastian County assessor