Lawrence County Detention Center project on schedule and below projected budget

Arkansas Jail Standards informed Lawrence County officials in 2014 that the county’s jail was inadequate and needed to be replaced. Officials spent months grappling with different proposals and were told it would cost at least $8.5 million to build a jail on a six-acre swath in Walnut Ridge owned by the county.

It would be one of the most expensive construction projects in the county’s history. It may turn out to be a little cheaper than was first estimated.

Work on the detention center is ongoing and the new jail facility could be open sometime in early 2018, Lawrence County Judge John Thomison told Talk Business & Politics. The project cost has been held to about $7 million by the general contractor, SouthBuild Team LLC, he said.

“We’re moving right along,” he said. “The only major problem we’ve had is the weather. If it will hold, we should get it done on time.”

Foundation block work and the exterior walls are almost complete. Crews have been hanging steel for the roof. Work on interior portions of the 100-bed jail is expected to begin soon.

For many years the county’s jail suffered from chronic overcrowding and inadequate facilities. The jail was built in the 1960s and was meant to house up to 42 inmates. An explosion of drug-related arrests, especially prescription drug and methamphetamine, led to constant overcrowding. There were many weekends when the inmate roster pushed 70 inmates, almost double its legal capacity.

When AJS examined the jail in 2014, the chronic overcrowding was noted, but other problems were discovered as well. The kitchen area was too small, the jail cells needed to be replaced, the first-aid facilities were obsolete, and the inmates didn’t have an exercise area, according to the report.

AJS threatened to close the jail and it would cost at least $600,000 per year to house the county’s prisoners in other jails, according to official estimates at the time. Several options were explored, including constructing a jail at the former Black Rock school campus after the school was permanently shut down due to declining student rosters.

Ultimately, then County Judge Dale Freeman and the Quorum Court opted to build a new jail on the land in Walnut Ridge near the Lawrence County Courthouse. Voters approved a 3/8-cent sales tax hike in November 2015 to pay for the construction of the jail. It has a sunset clause set to expire in 22 years. Voters also approved a 1/8-cent sales tax increase to pay for maintenance of the 100-bed facility. It’s a permanent hike. The sales tax increases mean most of the county has a 10-cent on every dollar sales tax rate. It will take about 18-months to complete the jail.

The building and property will allow the county to expand the jail in the future if it is needed, officials said. Jail overcrowding is a constant problem in Northeast Arkansas and once the jail is constructed the county may be able to house other counties’ prisoners. In return, the county would be financially compensated, Thomison said.

Housing other counties’ prisoners won’t be a financial windfall, the judge said. Keeping this project’s costs in check is the best way to ensure the county’s financial well-being in the future, he said.

“Hopefully we will get this done under this new budget and on the same time frame,” he said.