FOCUS ON POT TAKES FOCUS OFF JAIL SOLUTIONS

We think Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek really stepped in it
last week while testifying before a legislative committee on sentencing reform.

When we elected Pulkrabek, we knew that we were getting someone who
brought a new perspective to the office. Where former Sheriff Robert
Carpenter had failed repeatedly to make a compelling case for why the
county would need a new jail, Pulkrabek seems to understand that he
needs to exhaust every alternative if he is ever to convince county
voters that a new jail is needed. And, as demonstrated in his guest
opinion, Pulkrabek has been considering the many issues affecting the
overcrowding of the jail and the increased burden on law enforcement.

The majority of Pulkrabek's suggestions were completely in keeping
with why he was asked to testify before the committee: to discuss how
sentencing reform would impact county jails in some of Iowa's larger
counties. The problem came when Pulkrabek suggested that the
legislators reduce the charge against people found with a small
amount of marijuana -- a partial joint or less -- so that offenders
could be cited and released rather than having to be processed at the
county jail and then released.

Again, in keeping with Pulkrabek's other suggestions, the argument
does make sense on a practical level. The vast majority of these
offenders see no jail time other than their catch and release during
the intake process. The only ones who see lengthier jail time are
those who cannot afford to post bond.

Several recent letters to the editor have praised Pulkrabek for his
candor and his willingness to consider whether the punishment no
longer fits this particular crime. Indeed, if Pulkrabek were going to
check off every alternative to building a new jail, it would be
irresponsible for him to not bring up this issue at some point.

Although we want Pulkrabek to keep all such options in mind, we
wonder if his decision to discuss this topic before the legislators
was based more on naivety than on helpful candor. We don't think his
testimony before the committee was the best place to introduce this
reform. Pulkrabek should have known that several legislators would
hear "decriminalization" when he was only suggesting adding another
increment to the levels by which marijuana possession is classified.
He said he was trying to spark debate, but the resulting story was
picked up on the national wire and received the dubious distinction
of being the highest hitting "Odd News" on Yahoonews.com for a few
hours Thursday.

Did Pulkrabek's testimony further his case for a jail? Probably not.
For every Johnson County voter he's impressed with his candor, there
is at least one middle-of-the-road voter who views the marijuana
discussion as a distraction at best. We don't want our sheriff to
become a slick politician always seeking the best way to say as
little as possible, but we do want our officials to consider the
right place and time to introduce ideas they know will put their
credibility in question.

Pulkrabek had every right to bring up these issues before the
committee, and we're glad that he is thinking outside the box on jail
crowding. We're glad that he's trying to place the debate in a wider
context. But, in terms of advancing his broader goals on a county or
state level, he doesn't seem to have done himself any favors.