JUDGES CONSIDER FUNDING OPTIONS FOR JUVENILE JAIL

Ten county judges came away from a meeting with the company operating the
White River Regional Juvenile Detention Center with no clear picture of how
the facility will be funded this year.

The counties, all of which have partial ownership of the jail, have a
contract with L. Kincaid Associates to operate the facility. The contract
was set to expire at the end of March. However, Lowell Kincaid, president of
the company, has extended the contract by 30 days to give the counties more
time to decide on funding.

The current funding method is not working, Kincaid said, primarily because
of the state's failure to live up to its contract to house juveniles in
state custody at the facility.

When the detention center was constructed, the Department of Youth Services
told the counties that if they would build a facility to house 24 juveniles,
the state would keep 12 beds full to relieve overcrowding at the Alexander
facility. Regional juvenile centers in Yellville and Texarkana were told the
same thing.

The problem with funding surfaced when DYS reneged on that commitment.
Legislators attending a Legislative Committee on Judiciary meeting in
Batesville in November pointedly questioned DYS Director Doyle Herndon about
the commitment. Balking at first, Herndon finally said he would look at the
situation and see if some state children could be moved into the three
facilities.

Kincaid said that never happened.

Kincaid believes the Legislature will take some action during the next
session, but that's not until 2003. Area legislators have been very upset
that the commitment was not fulfilled, Kincaid added.

In the meantime, the problem funding the jail remains.

Each county is billed $71 a day for each its juveniles. If there are none,
the counties pay nothing.

Kincaid proposes in the new contract that counties be allotted a specific
number of beds, based on usage, and then pay for those beds even if they are
not occupied. The proposal drastically increases the amount of money paid.

For example, Independence County paid about $80,000 in 2001 to house
juveniles. Under Kincaid's new plan, that cost would go up to $129,000.
Towards that amount would go $25,000 in grants awarded through North
Arkansas Human Services for detention. That still leaves Independence County
with a cost of $104,000.

County Judge David Wyatt said he thought "if it came down to it," his county
could afford the increase, but it would be tough. "We don't need it," he
said.

Proposed costs for the other counties includes: Cleburne, $51,830; Fulton,
$25,915; Izard, $25,915: Jackson, $51,830; Sharp, $25,915; Stone, $25,915;
Van Buren, $12,958; White, $103,660; and Woodruff, $12,958.

Off of that cost would come grant funds of $10,020 for Cleburne County;
$1,000 for Fulton County, $2,000 for Izard County; $1,000 for Stone County;
and $7,000 for White County.

Van Buren County did not use the facility at all last year. County Judge
Dale Lynch said the county trades out housing juveniles with housing females
for Conway County.

Many of the county judges commented that they could not afford the increased
costs, but said they would go back and discuss it with their quorum courts.

Woodruff County only used the jail for 11 days in 2001. County Judge Burl
Simmons said he was not even aware the jail existed, but joked that his
county didn't need it anyway, "We are small and our people are good," he
said. "If I have to, I'll go out and make them get bad."

County Judge David Wyatt questioned what would happen if the jail were shut
down, but then acknowledged that's not feasible.

"What would really be nice is if we didn't have any juveniles that need this
facility, but we can't just shut the door and turn out the lights," Wyatt
said.

Izard County Judge Eddie Cooper said he didn't think he could drum up
support for additional costs, and questioned whether Kincaid could just keep
the grant money and it not be dispersed to counties.

"I think the only way I can explain this to my quorum court is that we pay
only what we paid last year and you keep all the grant money," he said.

Circuit Judge Steve Choate, who also attended the meeting, spoke highly of
the facility and its need.

"It's not just a jail," he said, noting there were classrooms, teachers and
access to psychological treatment. "It provides the things they need or the
things they are being deprived of by being in jail."

Choate said if the local jail closes, the alternative is the Alexander
facility.

"I toured Alexander and came home and ordered two of my kids out of there,"
he said. "It was the most depressing place I've ever seen in my life."