JPs seek public input on possible closing of facility

County intends to terminate lease of correction center

FAYETTEVILLE — People concerned about the possible closing of the Northwest Arkansas Community Correction Center in Fayetteville are working to tell Washington County officials.

Justice of the Peace Beth Coger initially asked for a 30-minute discussion period at Thursday’s Quorum Court meeting so those who support the continued operation of the facility could bring their views to the justices of the peace and other county officials.

County Judge Patrick Deakins said Friday he supports having a discussion, calling it “an excellent idea,” but he did not want to have it added to the agenda for Thursday’s meeting.

Deakins said he would prefer to have the session at a County Services Committee meeting, either June 3 or July 1.

“I would like to open the invitation to all the groups that work in that facility to ensure all voices are heard,” Deakins said in an email to Coger. “I think to rush this would risk leaving some voices out.”

Coger said Friday she would prefer to have the discussion as soon as possible, but she would support it if scheduling it at a committee meeting would provide more notice to people in the community and more time for the discussion at the meeting.

Deakins sent the state written notice at the end of March that the county intends to terminate the lease with the state for the facility, which is in the old county jail at 114 N. College Ave. The state leases the facility with a $1 annual payment to the county, with the state taking responsibility for the operation, upkeep and maintenance and covering the cost of any changes made to the facility. If not renewed, the lease will expire at the end of December.

Whitney Payne of Fayetteville worked at the Fayetteville center full time

“Eliminating a facility that works so well could come at a great cost to our community and to the state. This is a multifaceted, very complex problem.” — Whitney Payne, former employee at the Northwest Arkansas Community Correction Center

from June 2010 through August 2016 after beginning there as a social worker intern in 2009. She said she will attend any meeting where the future of the facility might be a topic of discussion, including Thursday’s Quorum Court meeting.

“I’m one of a number of people who have been pushing for it to be put on the agenda,” Payne said. “We think that being able to hear from the people directly would be very powerful for the county officials. We hope it might encourage both sides toward a more reasonable dialogue.”

Payne acknowledged the need for more jail space in Washington County but said that problem should not lead to the closing of an alternative facility with a record of success.

“Eliminating a facility that works so well could come at a great cost to our community and to the state,” Payne said. “This is a multifaceted, very complex problem.”

Payne said the community centers offer a greater range of treatment and support programs than those typically available in prison settings. She said the Northwest Arkansas center has had more than 400 community volunteers who work with the women to help them prepare for the transition from incarceration to a place in the community. The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville has worked with the center, as have local churches and community groups, Payne said.

According to a study done by the Department of Corrections, the community centers have a lower rate of recidivism than other facilities in the department. The study looked at the recidivism rate of inmates released in 2017 over the next three years, through 2020. For the Department of Corrections, the recidivism rate was around 46% over the three years of the study; the rate was around 37% for Arkansas Community Corrections.

Deakins raised the issue of the lease in the context of the county housing people sentenced to terms in the state Department of Corrections at the current Washington County Detention Center. The state reimburses counties at a rate of $40 per day for housing such inmates, and many counties’ daily costs are greater than that, according to reports compiled by the Association of Arkansas Counties and verified by the state Division of Legislative Audit. In the most recent report that included Washington County, with information from 2020, the daily cost to the county of housing “state inmates” was put at $94.68.

To cover the county’s costs, Deakins said in an email to the state, the lease payments should make up the difference between the state reimbursement of $40 per day and the county’s cost of $94.58. According to a formula that calculates that cost multiplied by the number of state inmate “bed days” in the Detention Center, the cost to the state for 2023 would have been more than $3 million.

Dina Tyler, communications director for the Department of Corrections, said in an email Friday the department has had some talks with county officials, but nothing has been resolved. Tyler said the department has two locations in mind — in Pine Bluff and in West Memphis — if the Northwest Arkansas facility is closed. She said there is no set time frame for making a decision about the Fayetteville center.

“The West Memphis facility, the East Arkansas Community Correction Center, is operational and has space,” Tyler said Friday in an email. “The Pine Bluff facility, formerly known as the Southeast Community Correction Center, housed female residents until it was shuttered and the offenders were moved to the West Memphis Center in April 2016. As for a timeline, the lease runs until the end of the year, which means we have time to talk, listen and figure out the best path forward.”

Lowell Grisham is a former rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville who worked with the church to offer programs to women in the community center since shortly after it opened. Grisham said county officials need to hear what people in the community have to say before making any decision.

“The county lost that referendum on building more jail space so miserably you would think they would listen to what the people are saying,” Grisham said, referring to voters rejecting a $100 million jail expansion plan and a sales tax increase to pay for it in the November 2022 general election.

“In my view, the voters have said we need more creativity in our correctional processes. This is one facility that’s doing things well. Why close something that’s doing things well?”