SHERIFF SHOULD BEGIN EDUCATING THE PUBLIC ABOUT JAIL

The Press-Citizen recently editorialized that Sheriff Lonny
Pulkrabek's recent proposal to state legislators "probably" did not
further the case for the construction of a new jail facility in
Johnson County ("Focus on pot takes focus off jail solutions," Feb.
15). We feel that the facts need to be stated here. Sheriff Pulkrabek
is making these proposals to placate the political base in Johnson
County that helped get him elected to office in the first place.

What you're not hearing from the sheriff (or the media for that
matter) is the following:

Detox center was tried before: Sheriff Pulkrabek failed to mention
that Johnson County did have a detoxification center in the early
1980s when it was allowed under state law to take those cited for
public intoxication to such a center. More problems than solutions
were created by this center, however, when offenders taken there
caused fights and other disturbances that required law enforcement to
respond to additional problems.

State law was eventually changed to require that anyone cited for
public intox was to be detained for the protection of the offender
and of the public. The risks and liability to law enforcement and to
communities are too great to allow anything but detention of those
cited for public intoxication.

Lesser penalties send wrong message: We agree with Johnson County
Attorney J. Patrick White that Pulkrabek's proposal on reducing
penalties for marijuana possession sends the wrong message to the community.

It flies in the face of common sense to advocate a catch and release
attitude towards this type of illegal behavior when there are so many
organizations in Johnson County doing wonderful work to educate the
public on the harmful effects of drug use.

For a law enforcement official to advocate the position that
possessing a small amount of marijuana should be enforced differently
than possessing a large amount is irresponsible at best. Sheriff
Pulkrabek's job is to enforce the laws of Iowa as written. If Sheriff
Pulkrabek does not agree with the laws, he should run for a seat in
the Iowa Legislature and attempt to change the laws.

Suggestions will not alleviate overcrowding: Reducing penalties for
these types of offenses would do little to reduce overcrowding at the
Johnson County Jail. Those cited for these offenses are often
released within 24 hours or less and make up a small percentage of
those housed at the jail.

Johnson County did not spend 1.8 million dollars to house public
intox and marijuana offenders in other counties' jails. The offenders
being housed in other jails are those awaiting trial, repeat
offenders, and those serving sentences for more serious offenses.

Sheriff Pulkrabek promised during his campaign that if elected, he
would conduct a public education campaign about the need for a new
jail facility. To date, there has been no such campaign and little
done in the way of reducing current overcrowding at the jail. All one
has to do is to look at the housing statistics at the jail on the
sheriff's own Web site. The jail population has consistently been at
or near 100 prisoners a day housed in the jail. In a facility that
was built with a capacity of half that total. The state jail
inspector has consistently criticized Johnson County for not
providing adequate resources in the jail due to the lack of space.

We urge Sheriff Pulkrabek to finally begin to take real steps toward
educating the public about the need for a new jail facility instead
of advocating irresponsible policies towardsthe serious issues of
drug and alcohol abuse in this county. It's time for the sheriff to
face reality and reject the pipe dream policies of those who
irresponsibly oppose the building of a new jail. The public deserves
better from the leadership of our county law enforcement.