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New lockup to give counties place for young offenders
SANDY DAVIS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

BATESVILLE -- When the White River Regional Juvenile Detention Facility opens June 1, it should alleviate most of the problems that 10 counties have faced for years over where to place youthful offenders.
"For the last few years, we've had to take them to Jonesboro or to Danville in Yell County," said Independence County Judge David Wyatt. "That was a 70- or 90-mile drive one way for a deputy. Then you'd have to go back and get them for court and then return them. It was just too much."
Authorities usually chose instead to release all but the most serious offenders to their parents while the youths waited for court appearances, Wyatt said.
The White River Regional Planning District is made up of Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Sharp, Stone, Van Buren, White, and Woodruff counties. The counties joined forces to build the detention facility.
"It wasn't easy coming up with the money," Wyatt said of the effort to find the $1.1 million needed to build the juvenile jail.
The district first received a $600,000 grant from the state. "That just wasn't enough," Wyatt said. "So the Division of Youth Services for the Department of Human Services gave us a $400,000 loan at 0 percent interest."
But that wasn't enough either.
"The state Legislature had to give us another $250,000," Wyatt said. "Finally, we had the money to build it."
The 24-bed facility will house youths awaiting trial, as well as some sentenced there by a judge.
State officials said they were pleased with the concept.
"This is an excellent alternative to using our services," said Russell Rigsby, director of the state's Division of Youth Services. "I'm in favor of them utilizing community resources."
Keeping low-risk offenders in the community is better than sending them to a state-operated detention center, Rigsby said.
"This is a real positive," he said. "It reduces the number of offenders that might be committed for a short period of time. Their transition back into the community will be more rapid, and they will be able to forgo the assessment and evaluation that we have to do. It will be so much easier."
Kincaid and Associates have been contracted for the day-to-day operations of the facility, Wyatt said. The facility will be supervised by a board made up of the county judges from each of the district's 10 counties.
The facility has 9,000 square feet and will employ 17 workers, all of whom already have been hired.
"It's a good design," Wyatt said. "It will be easy to manage. A lot of jails could take a lesson on how this was designed. It cuts down on the personnel you need,"
The operating expenses also will be lower than those of other juvenile detention centers, Wyatt said.
"It will cost $70 a day per bed," Wyatt said. "Each county or city will be responsible for the costs of the offender they put in there."
The facility was built in Batesville "because it's centrally located," he said.
Each county is contributing to pay back the $400,000 loan. "The amount each county is paying is based on their population," Wyatt said. "We have counties paying from $150 a month to $800 a month. We've already got the loan paid down to $300,000."
The facility already is receiving requests from counties needing to house young offenders.
"We're already getting calls for beds and it isn't even open yet," Wyatt said. "The state even called. They wanted to contract with us for some beds. We had to say no. Our 10-county district has to have priority."
Wyatt said he does not see any problem keeping the facility occupied.
"It's not necessarily a good comment," he said, "but I think we'll be full the first night."

This article was published on Monday, May 10, 1999

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