Arkansas Sheriffs Association addressing overcrowding issues

Arkansas sheriffs are working with state legislators to address over-crowding issues in local jails around the state. Recently, Howard County Sheriff Bryan McJunkins attended a meeting with his colleagues and several state lawmakers to discuss the matter. Earlier this week, a Senate Judiciary Committee also met with several sheriffs and Mark Whitmore, who is the Chief Legal Counsel for the Association of Arkansas Counties.
Some of the matters being brought before lawmakers by the state’s top county law enforcement include the dangers of housing violent criminals that are in local jails waiting to be transferred to state prisons and local jails not having enough employees and low reimbursement rates paid to counties for housing these inmates.
As of yesterday, nine inmates in the Howard County Jail are awaiting transfer to the Arkansas Department of Corrections. That number is about one third of the current jail inmate population. Sheriff McJunkins said the population of state inmates housed at at the local jail has been at, or above, 50 percent of the total inmate population. Recently, department employees transferred 11 inmates to the state’s custody.