Well I’m Shocked! Shocked to learn that Governor Beebe’s new prisoner “Commit the Crime and Serve No Time” bill is creating budget problems all over the state of Arkansas!
The Gov and the “lemming like legislature” passed a “le Pew” Center recommendation to reduce felonies to misdemeanors so as to send criminals back onto the streets rather than to state prisons, or in the worst case for local governments, to send the miscreants to city and county lockups. This would save the State over $800 million dollars over ten years since fewer prisons and guards would be needed. Well guess where these recently convicted criminals, at least those not given probation, are being sent? Yep, you guessed it; straight to the local city or county “hoosegow”. Now these municipal governments are discovering that their local lockups are bulging at the seams, or beds, attempting to house this influx of unexpected miscreants formerly sent to state prisons. Some municipal governments are now seeking taxpayer OK to build larger jails or add to their existing one.
One such proposal sought $5 million to build a new jail. There are over 70 counties in the state. If each must build or increase their current jailhouse within the next ten years and the $5million cost is the norm, well, gee the taxpayers of Arkansas are going to be hit with $350 million in construction costs for jail facilities alone. When you add the cost of new police to guard and control, plus the cost of feed and utilities the $800 million savings that the “le Pew” Center sold to Beebe and the Legislature as savings for the state budget will just be shifted to the local governments.
Can you hear it? The crowing of the Governor about all the money he saved the state by not building more prisons. But don’t get upset. “The governor has said there were going to be some problems; everyone said that there are going to be some problems”. Per Executive Director of Arkansas Sheriff’s Association “Governor Beebe said that his office will work with us to find solutions or make the necessary changes.” Or as Matt DeCample, the governor’s spokesman said, “the governor’s office is taking a similar approach (?) to possible problems that may arise as the law is implemented. If there are unseen problems we didn’t predict, we’ll be right there to help everyone who is sharing the burden with any issues that arise. This could very well shift some people to the local jails, but right now a lot of what we’re dealing with is hypothetical.”
The new law took effect on July 27th and already there is concern from local sheriffs. Since Governor Beebe’s term limit is up in 2014, I wonder how much solace the local jailers are taking from his promise to “be there and help with their future problems”. Well at least the Beebe won’t have to worry about it, he’ll be long gone.
I guess the real question is this: “Is it less expensive to build about 70 new jails and man them or just to go ahead and build two or three mega prisons and man them?”
The taxpayers of Arkansas will know the answer to that in about ten years. Of course the “le Pew” Center and the Beebe highly recommended just putting the prisoners back out on the street with a parole promise that they be good fellows in the future. So putting the miscreants into the local jail isn’t following their best advice. So you see, it’s not the Governor’s fault if the local DAs insist on putting criminals behind bars.
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