Editorials

At the End of the Day: The way it works June 11, 2007 - | Editor/Publisher

Pike County’s Quorum Court and county officials may not realize it yet, but they have recently displayed a text book example of how local democracy works, or is supposed to work anyway.

Over a year ago, Pike County Sheriff Jerry Jones presented a proposal to build a new 58-bed county jail. Pike County’s present facility is in poor shape. In fact the jail is so crowded Sheriff Jones has a backlog of hundreds of warrants which can’t be processed because there is no room at the jail. Pretty soon the word gets out to the crooks.

Forward-looking justices of the peace and Pike County Judge Don Baker realized years ago the county would have to have a new jail. They started a capital improvement fund and now the county has over $1.8 million saved as a down payment on a new facility.

Sheriff Jones brought an ambitious proposal to build a $4.8 million jail, financed by a $3 million bond issue. Here is where democracy comes into play.

All agreed the county needs a new jail. The disagreement was over the final price tag and how the facility would be paid for. Some quorum court members and Judge Baker were reluctant to propose a bond issue to the county, especially given the shakey state of the county’s only hospital.

Sheriff Jones presented a scaled down version and now bids are about to be let to build Pike County a new jail. The price tag is expected to be some $2 million less, no county election will be necessary, and best of all from Judge Baker’s stand point, the county will not obligated to spending $200,000 to $300,000 a year for 15 years making bond payments.

Of course the new jail is not a reality yet and as the saying goes there is a long distance between lip and cup.

Pike Countians need to let Sheriff Jones know they appreciate his staying the course and working with the quorum court. And they need to thank their local justice of the peace for moving Pike County forward on this issue. The court and county officials explored several avenues and discussed their ideas and reached a compromise.

The bottom line is Pike County is in dire need of a new jail. The sheriff and all law enforcement cannot do their job without an adequate facility and unfortunately incarceration is a growth industry. Now county officials are moving in the right direction.

At the end of the day, what Pike County officials are doing is a good example for all.

I invite your comments ...

↑ Top