BOND REFINANCE A WISE MOVE

Johnson County Judge-Executive Tucker Daniel's move to refinance the bonds
owed for constructing the regional jail is a wise move in these uncertain
times. The responsibility for repaying that debt was just recently
transferred back to the four participating counties by the jail's board,
which finds itself in a tight money pinch. Daniel's refinancing plan will
save fiscal courts in Johnson, Lawrence, Martin and Magoffin counties money.

Additionally, Johnson County is examining the possibility of making those
it confines to the jail pay some of the costs associated with their
incarceration. That's not a new idea. The jail board initiated a fee
structure some months ago that requires those jailed to pay some of the
costs of their "visits." The operation of jails is one of those costs
society would rather do without, but there seems to be no end to crime or
any hope that the county will suddenly find the clue for creating a utopian
existence. Tight economic situations faced by both state and local
governments creates another concern. If there is too little money to keep
criminals in jail, the answer so far has been to turn them loose, and many
just pick up where they left off...stealing, raping, assaulting. That
shifts more of the burden to police agencies, which are just as strapped
for money as anyone else. When it comes to crime, nobody wins. Society
basically has two choices in this matter. We can contribute more of our
money to the cause or we can reassess our priorities for sending people to
jail. Are there less expensive alternatives? Can some jail time offenses be
converted to fine-only charges? This is not an easy problem to solve, but
it is one that should get lots of attention from those who write our laws,
those who enforce them, and those who obey them. As long as we are spending
more money to keep a criminal in jail than we are spending to send a child
through school, we need to work to turn those tables. If we just wait and
hope the problem will go away on its own, we'll get nowhere...fast.