Jail to replace air conditioning units

BENTONVILLE — Inmates in the Benton County Jail aren’t rapping Nelly’s lyrics “It’s getting hot in here.”

The jail is without two air conditioning units, but officials found a temporary solution to keep inmates cool until the units are replaced, said Sgt. Shannon Jenkins, the public information deputy for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

Meyer Gilbert, chief deputy of the Sheriff’s Office, told justices of the peace at their Thursday’s meeting the jail would have problems meeting standards if the units aren’t fixed.

The Quorum Court gave the county judge permission to buy the replacement units.

Jenkins said they were able to attach two big blowers to their system and are maintaining 73 degrees.

“They are not going without air conditioning” Jenkins said. “It’s well within jail standards.”

The affected pods are the two largest in the jail and house between 400 to 450 inmates total, Jenkins said.

She expects it will take more than two months before the new units will be installed.

Bryan Beeson, facilities administrator, said the Quorum Court agreed to spend $179,364 to replace the units. He said the units are original equipment. The jail opened in 1999, Beeson said.

They hoped to get to next year before replacing the units, he said, adding the new units were already in the budget for 2019.

“We knew there were problems, and we had been

trying to Band-Aid it,” he said.

Beeson said they noticed an issue with the air flow two weeks ago and obtained the temporary units. The county is paying $21,000 per month for the temporary units, which operate on diesel, Beeson said. He said the county is responsible for the fuel.