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Open letter to Quorum Court; reference Juvenile Detention Facility (Note: each member of the Quorum Court has received a copy of the following letter.)

Date; October 17, 2007
To; Benton County Judge and Quorum Court Members
Ref; Jail Expansion

WE ARE SPENDING OUR MONIES IN THE WRONG PLACE

I am perplexed on why we are expanding the number of jail beds in the Benton County Jail when we are not full, at least not full with inmates arrested in Benton County.

Last year in a Long Range Planning Meeting, the Sheriff asked to expand the county jail by 250 beds. This would entail adding an additional pod because the current jail was at capacity. The Sheriff went on to say he was hoping to expand his housing of federal prisoners by not only holding federal prisoners from the Western District of Arkansas but he wanted to secure the Eastern District federal prisoners as well.

Why? If our jail is full and we are turning away prisoners arrested in Benton County why does the Sheriff not phase out the holding of other county and federal prisoners? The program of holding state prisoners from other Arkansas county jails and federal prisoners started under my watch. We had jail space and other counties did not. We explained to the members of the county court, at that time, this practice could bring in a net revenue of over one million dollars annually. We also made it clear that when the time came and Benton County needed those leased beds for subjects who were arrested in our county the program of holding out of county and federal prisoners would be phased out. I also suggested that any net revenues generated from housing prisoners not from Benton County should be put to the side for future maintenance and or expansion and the monies should never be used as anticipated revenues in the general budget.

I see where the Sheriff wants to downsize his expansion plan of 250 beds to 136 beds and I still ask why?

Why are we even thinking about expansion while we are holding other agencies prisoners?

When the Quorum Court went out to the citizens of Benton County and asked for a half cents sales tax for a new jail there was never a mention of building a jail that in the future would hold outside agencies prisoners while turning away and releasing prisoners back into the streets that have been arrested in Benton County. Something is wrong with that picture!

Now let’s get to the Sheriff’s recent pod proposal. I see he has dropped the request for the 250 bed pod at a cost from 12 to 14 million dollars to a 136 bed pod built by inmates at a cost of 2 or 3 million dollars.

My first point of interest would be 2 or 3 million dollars, which is it? Then the Sheriff said it would only require nine additional personnel to run the new pod. I don’t think so. Unless the operations of that jail have changed, it will require at least 18 additional personnel just to operate the pod. That does not include the additional personnel that it will take to handle the additional duties and issues put on the jail.

Duties and issues like:
• transporting prisoners to the courts, to the state prisons, to outside medical care etc.
• booking and releasing the additional inmates
• the handling and storage of inmates personal property
• the additional requirement of supervising visitation for inmates
• the supervision of additional inmate trustees who will do the increase of laundry, cleaning and food preparation of the new pod.
• jail clerks will have to deal with the increase of family members requesting visitation.
• If we increase the jail by 30% will that require another nurse and another medical doctor to meet the inmate’s medical needs?
• Will the pharmaceutical cost go up by 30%? If so how much of an increase is that?
• How much will it increase the utility cost of gas, electric and water?
• Will the current emergency generator cover the new pod or will there be a need to put in a second emergency generator?
• Will we need an additional maintenance person?
• With the increase of 136 prisoners will this require an additional judge to come on site to hold the additional bond hearings?
• Is the parking for the staff adequate for the additional personnel?
• Is the public parking adequate for the additional public that will be visiting the jail? If not what will the cost for additional parking be?
• With an increase of 30% of inmates will there need to be an increase in the public defenders office to provide legal service for the additional inmate population?
• Has Jail Standards reviewed the new pod plan and given it their blessing as required?

The Sheriff has stated he is currently understaffed in the present jail, what will this do to his under-staffing issue if he adds an additional pod and under-staffs it?

It is important to note that the members of the Quorum Court are the good stewards of our tax monies. Again it is important to remember the current jail was not sold to the public and built under the premise that someday Benton County would become a Federal Housing Prison and a State Housing Prison and at the same time turn away men and women who have been arrested in Benton County only to be released back into our streets.

Once the Sheriff unloads all the State and Federal prisoners and runs the jail efficiently, if then it shows signs of overcrowding, we should support his expansion.

WHERE THE MONIES NEED TO BE SPENT

Jail expansion is not what the county should be looking at now; this is where the monies need to go. A much needed new, modern, state of the art juvenile detention facility. The county had better pay attention to our juvenile Judge, Judge Jay Finch when he tells you the juvenile justice system is in a hole. If you would take the time to listen to him you will see he has a very long list of reasons why we need a new Juvenile Detention Facility. I would like to add that if you ever expect to reduce the adult population of inmates in Benton County then the starting place is with our juvenile offenders. All adult prisoners were juveniles at a time in their life. If there had been proper intervention when they were juveniles I wonder where the majority of our adult prisoners would be today.

Thank you for your time.

Sheriff Andy Lee, retired
Benton County

After serving 18 years working as a Sam’s Club Associate, Holly has recently retired and is now spending some extra energy on spoiling our grandkids. She, like all mothers, has a great love for children. With her knowledge and practical workplace experience, Holly would like to become actively involved with some of the organizations and programs that work closely with the Sheriff’s Office.

“As mother, grandmother, and the wife of a retired Sheriff, I have witnessed the stories of our youth who find themselves in trouble. I have seen through the eyes of my husband, women and children that have been abused and need our help and support. These organizations do a tremendous amount for our women and children and are unsung heroes in our community.”

Holly will be actively involved in these important family support facilities, The Benton County Children’s Advocacy Center and The Benton County Women’s Shelter. She will work through the Sheriff’s Office using it as a springboard to promote community support and awareness for these organizations. She would also be a front runner for promoting a much needed juvenile detention center that would nurture and guide children to become productive adults.

Put the tax dollars into a new Juvenile Detention Facility

The current Sheriff has requested several million additional dollars in his budget next year to build a jail annex. Why?

The first thing to do is to stop holding inmates that do not belong to Benton County. These Federal and State prisoners are in Benton County because other counties lack jail space. They are inmates arrested and convicted in other counties in Arkansas. They are using much needed bed space in our jail. Instead of terminating that assistance program, the current Sheriff wants to build an annex to house inmates arrested in Benton County. He is turning away suspected criminals because there is no bed space…Go figure!

The second thing to do is to put the “tough” back in the reputation of the jail. One of Benton County’s best tools in fighting crime is the jail and its reputation. If you run a tough, firm, and fair jail, criminals will not commit crimes in this county. Many times inmates actually cried when they realized they were arrested in Benton County. Warranted criminals would flee to the coastal states hoping to avoid extradition back into Benton County Arkansas. They did not want to serve time in Benton County Jail. A tough jail will never be a full jail. Inmates who can make bond will and those who cannot will spread the word to stay out of Benton County.

We do not need more jail space. We need to stop holding prisoners arrested outside of Benton County. I compare the welcoming of more and more prisoners from other counties with the failure to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the country. My question would be to the current Sheriff and members of the Quorum Court, Where do we draw the line?

Efficiency of operation and executing the original policies used when the jail first opened will make the need for expansion obsolete. We can better serve our community by putting our tax dollars where there is a real need, that is, a new Juvenile Detention Facility.

Crime control will focus on three major problems: See www.voteandylee.com

1. How to identify and ultimately eliminate criminal street gangs that make their obscene and illicit profits from crimes such as the manufacturing and selling of narcotics, trafficking in illegal weapons and vehicle theft rings.

2. How to properly utilize the federal 287 g program in order to cross-train Benton County Sheriff’s deputies as federal Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

3. How to identify and deport illegal aliens, particularly those who continue to engage in criminal enterprise.

Crime prevention will include: See www.voteandylee.com

• Construction of a new Juvenile Detention Center that will allow us to reach troubled youth before they become hardened criminals,

• Support of the Children’s Advocacy Center to stop child abuse through vigorous investigation and prosecution of apprehended suspects,

• Support of the Women’s Shelter to deal with the tragedy of domestic violence, relying on the very deputies I had specially trained when I was your Sheriff.

My lovely wife of 34 years, Holly-mother to our four children and matriarch to our 12 grandchildren-will be Benton County’s special crime prevention weapon, working hand-in-hand with me and my staff on such issues that unfortunately first and foremost impact women and children, but over the long haul impact all of us.

You may be asking yourself why I have decided to rejoin the war against crime by seeking to become your Sheriff again after a 4 year absence. That’s easy! When I chose to not run for reelection in 2004, I did so because I believed I had not only accomplished all of my goals, but also believed I had raised public safety to a high enough level that it would be an easy one for my successor to maintain.

Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Although I began identifying criminal street gangs in this county, and attempting to deal with them, as early as 1993, my successor still claims there are no gangs in Benton County. This is frightening, especially when you discover that the City of Rogers, alone, has at least 42 different identifiable gangs.

I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that all of this will be a fast, easy fix. It won’t be. For example, we are going to need the help of the Arkansas Legislature if we are to get rid of gangs. We need simple, straightforward legislation that will declare it a crime to knowingly be a member of a criminal street gang.

Please understand something. The Sheriff’s Office enforces the laws the legislators write. Therefore, if dangerous conduct isn’t a crime, there is nothing that any law enforcement agency can do about the problem. But, I vow to work closely with lawmakers to guide them on legislation I believe is needed to effectively deal with one of the biggest safety problems facing us today.

But, before I can do any of that, I need to be back in office as your Sheriff. With God’s help and your courage and vision, we both can and will do that. I am Andy Lee and I want to be your next Sheriff. 

Thank you and please visit www.voteandylee.com

Why does a Sheriff want to get involved with “illegal immigration”?

The Sheriff is the “Chief Law Enforcement Officer” in the county. That means the Sheriff even out ranks any federal agency. In their county, the Sheriff calls the shots regarding crime and the law. I put illegal immigrants into two categories: those who have committed a state crime such as robbery, rape, murder, burglary, car jacking, narcotic trafficking, gang involvement, etc. and those who are here for work.

As your next Sheriff, my office will strive to prevent all illegal immigrants from wanting to commit a state crime in Benton County. Any illegal immigrant involved in criminal activity that we come into contact while doing our duty, will be arrested, detained, and processed to be deported.