Benton County officials tracking jail population

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace said Thursday they want to keep a close eye on the population of the county jail before they consider a long-range expansion of the facility.

The county's finance committee had an impromptu discussion about the future of the jail at the conclusion of its normal agenda at Thursday's committee meeting.

Barry Moehring, justice of the peace for District 15, raised the issue of the jail population while the panel was discussing payments received from the state for holding state inmates in the jail.

"We need to pay close attention to that jail population," Moehring said. "It's my understanding there are fewer state prisoners being held in county jails."

Kurt Moore, justice of the peace for District 13, asked Shawn Holloway, chief deputy with the Sheriff's Office, if he had any information on changes at the state level that will affect the number of state inmates being held in county jails, and Holloway said he did not.

Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4 and chairman of the committee, later told Holloway the panel wants regular updates on the jail population. The county has approved a $2 million expansion of the jail for misdemeanor inmates and women inmates, but a larger expansion that might add another area for felony inmates is still on hold.

"We're going to want to hear more from you regarding the jail population," Allen told Holloway.

Holloway said the number of state inmates will vary depending on decisions made at the state level. But, he said, with the county's population expected to keep growing. the population of the jail will also grow.

Allen said, after the meeting, he isn't ready to commit to a large-scale expansion of the jail.

"I think that's something that has to be determined later," he said. "I'm not convinced that it's necessary yet."

The justices of the peace also heard their regular monthly reports on county finances. Brenda Guenther, comptroller, said the county had a month-to-month increase of 13.57 percent, or $82,212, from April 2015 to April 2016. The county's year-to-date collections are up by just 0.8 percent, or $21,626, she said. The county's 2016 budget calls for $8 million in sales tax revenue.

"We've had some increases and we've had decreases," Allen said after the meeting. "I don't think we've established a trend yet. We're only up 0.8 percent for the year. Like years past, I'm going to wait a couple more months to see if we need to re-evaluate and make and changes."

General News on 05/11/2016