Expanded jail is needed for public safety

For Benton County to remain one of the best places in America to live, work and raise a family, we must continue to prioritize public safety. Public safety is the primary responsibility of government. Without it, nothing else works. The quality of life we enjoy here exists largely because people feel safe. That safety is not an accident. It is due to the hard work of our law enforcement officers and the choice voters made decades ago to expand our jail capacity so we could keep criminals off our streets. The resulting low crime rate we have enjoyed has been a key ingredient in making Benton County one of the most dynamic and thriving communities in the country. On Nov. 8, we will be faced with the same choice voters in Benton County confronted decades ago — whether to expand the Benton County Jail to meet the needs of our growing community. For safe schools, safe streets and a safe community, I hope you will join me in supporting the expansion of the Benton County Jail.

As our community grows, so do our infrastructure needs. Expanded schools, parks and roads are all needed to support a growing population. Our jail is no exception. While we continue to enjoy a low crime rate proportional to our population, the fact is that the real number of crimes has increased as our population has grown. The result is that our jail is no longer sufficient to meet the public safety needs brought on by unprecedented growth.

In the mid-1990s, the Benton County Jail was designed to serve a population of 178,000 and its current capacity is 669 inmates. The population of Benton County now likely exceeds 300,000 and our jail routinely houses between 700-800 inmates.

We have seen a steep increase in the number of criminal cases as well. In 2011, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office opened 1,766 felony criminal cases. In 2021, that number had risen to 2,953, a 60% increase in 10 years. Unfortunately, projections tell us that those numbers will continue to rise in the future and our current jail simply cannot accommodate that growth.

This problem is not unique to Benton County and it presents us with a clear choice. Our community will either decide to have more criminals in jail or on the streets, it is that simple. Activists in favor of criminal justice reform would have us believe that releasing criminals from custody, ending cash bail and not prosecuting certain crimes would lower our jail population. And they are right, it would lower the population of the jail. It would also dramatically increase the crime in our community. You don’t have to take my word for it, just take a look at the crime rate and quality of life in the cities where these same ideas have been tried — Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York, to only name a few. If we want Benton County to have a different future than these places, we must make different choices.

We need an “all of the above” approach to crime. Mental health treatment, drug t reatment and second chances must always be a part of the criminal justice system. Whether through drug court or another diversion program, thousands of people arrested for crimes in Benton County have received t reatment and gotten their lives back on track. For these programs to continue to succeed, we need adequate jail space so judges will have both a carrot and a stick.

All of us worry about the world our children will inherit. I want my children to have the same safe childhood that I did. On election day, we have the opportunity to ensure that our community remains safe for future generations. While expanding the Benton County Jail is costly, it pales in comparison to the cost to this community if we do nothing. If we fail to deal with this problem now, the solutions in the future will only be more expensive. On Nov. 8, I hope you will join me in voting to expand the Benton County Jail so we can keep this community safe.

We need an “all of the above” approach to crime. Mental health treatment, drug treatment and second chances must always be a part of the criminal justice system. ... For these programs to continue to succeed, we need adequate jail space so judges will have both a carrot and a stick.