By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Justice of the Peace Larry Odom, who helped spearhead the successful effort to get Lonoke County a new—and nearly completed now—136-bed jail, revealed his plan at the January quorum court meeting Thursday to pay for the additional eight jailers and a part-time nurse for the jail in 2011. The jail is expected to open in May or June.
Odom says including salary and benefits, the additional staff would cost about $292,000 a year.
The largest share of that—about $150,000 would come from a 2010 budget cleanup—money carried over after the final reckoning of the books. Another $50,000—available at the discretion of new Lonoke County Circuit Clerk Denise Brown—would come from fees collected by her office.
Another $48,250 will come from the county general-fund share of $60,500 in fees collected by the circuit clerk’s office from the Bayer Crop Sciences lawsuit, in which county farmers sued Bayer for contaminating their rice with genetically modified rice.
Odom said Cabot Mayor Bill Cypert wants to reserve 1.8 beds, which would generate another $32,500 a year. Another $13,600 can come from the county judge’s office, by shifting part of the cost of his salary to the county road department.
That totals $292,350 a year, Odom said.
And since the jail will only be open roughly half of the first year, those salaries will be less, he said.
This is not a permanent solution. At least the money derived from the Bayer Crop Sciences lawsuit is one-time money, Odom said, but at least it gets the new $6.2 million jail up and running.
J.P. Adam Sims had suggested cutting the county’s property tax in half while adding half-a-penny to the county’s sales tax, dedicated to jail operation. Both of those would require a vote of county residents.
Earlier this month, Sheriff Jim Roberson told members of the jail committee that a fully staffed jail would include a sergeant to oversee day-to-day operations and to train a jail administrator to oversee medication disbursement and other duties; 12 actual jailers, two transport officers and two kitchen/maintenance/relief officers.
It takes 12 jailers to have three on duty around the clock without paying overtime or comp time.
That’s a booking officer, a control officer and a verification/transport officer.
Members of the state Jail Standards Committee endorsed the sheriff’s contention that the new jail requires a total of 18 jailers, and recommended a nurse, as did Jason Owens, a risk management specialist from Duncan, Rainwater and Sexton, attorneys at law.
County Judge Doug Erwin, conducting his first regular meeting of the quorum court since taking office Jan. 1, said he had ordered most county trucks to be left at the county shop at night, with some trucks still out in the far reaches of the county in case of emergencies.
Erwin said he had implemented a new computerized gas card for county employees.
“We can account for every drop of gas the county spends,” he said.
“I pledged we would be transparent, and we will,” he said.
He introduced Pat Davidson as his administrator and Cecil Dunn as the county shop foreman. The new county shop, located next to the new jail, is fully operational now, Erwin reported.
Former Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman had swapped half a block of land across from Lonoke City Hall in exchange for the land in the city industrial park to build the jail and shop.
The county was to tear down all the metal buildings and clean up the land it traded to the city, but Erwin said Lonoke Mayor Wayne McGee has asked to leave the one building in place, which will save the county some time and money, Erwin reported.
Erwin, the first Republican Lonoke County judge in the memory of some long-time politicians like former state Sen. Bobby Glover, pledged upon election that he would be judge for all county residents, and in a move apparently symbolic of that, had the quorum court seated in district order, one through 13.
That made a slight dent in the usual clustering of Republicans on one side of the horseshoe- table configuration, Democrats on the other side—but not much, because all the Republicans are from the north part of the county, while most of the Democrats are from the south end.
Cabot High School student Grant Bodiford, representing a service club at his high school, asked the court for money, guidance and equipment to help restore Anthony Schmidtt Park, which had become rundown, he said.
That’s the only county park in Lonoke County, he said. Bodiford said the group had been cleaning up the park, but needed money for paint, and wanted to meet with county officials to plan some new pavilions. The old ones are about to fall down, he said.
Erwin said the county would help.
J.P. Bill Ryker proposed policies and regulations for conducting the quorum court meetings.
