Menu
Jail officials pleased with open house response
This is the second part of a series on the Southeast Kansas Regional Correctional Center open House held Tuesday.
Officials from the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office and Southeast Kansas Regional Correctional Center are pleased with the turnout for the first open house held Tuesday at the jail facility.
A hundred people toured the facility, which is a better turnout than was expected.
The purpose of the tours was to educate the public on the need for a new jail facility. Sheriff Bill Martin and Jail Administrator Bobby Reed said they heard many positive comments regarding the support for a new facility.
"There had been several people who, before they took a tour of the jail, had pretty much made up their mind we didn't need one," Martin said. "But after taking a tour of the jail, it opened up their eyes and realized, yeah, we need to do something."
He said there were a lot of positive, but also a couple of negative comments. Martin said some suggested having inmates paint the walls every other month and do simple maintenance.
"But that's not going to solve the overpopulation or the safety issues that are faced with the COs (correction officers) or the inmates," Martin said.
He said during the tours, he talked about the suggestion of expanding and or remodeling the existing facility. He pointed out that it would be impossible to move concrete walls without jeopardizing the integrity of the building. He said after people saw the interior of the jail and listened to the explanation, they understood why remodeling or expanding is not an option.
"There were a lot of eyes that were opened up and realized, 'Wow, there's a lot more to this than what people are actually saying,'" Martin said.
Reed said some people who took the tour arrived with no opinion.
"I feel after they left, they had a strong opinion for it," Reed said. "Others had a strong opinion against it, but after they obtained the facts from the sheriff or myself or others, they understood."
"I thought it went extremely well," Reed said. "I was surprised by the turnout."
The tours began at 2 p.m. and Reed said when he returned from one tour, there was another group ready to go.
"It was nonstop all day," Reed said.
There was an average of six or seven people on each tour. Reed said the smallest group he led had one person and the largest had 12. Martin, Director of Security Julie Miller, Undersheriff Ben Cole, and Deputy Logan Probasco, who is a former jail administrator, also led and assisted with tours. Reed said tours led by himself and Martin lasted about 45 minutes.
"I think people felt comfortable asking me or the sheriff more questions," Reed said.
In response to a question regarding how a new facility will be paid for, Martin said it would be a sales tax issue.
"If it's on a property tax, I'll walk away from it," Martin said. "It needs to be a sales tax. I guarantee you, if you watch people that we let out of here after they've served their time, guess where the first place is they're going to go? A convenience store to get their beer and their cigarettes and what's on that? Sales tax."
Later, Martin and Deputy Logan Probasco said with a sales tax, anyone traveling and making a stop in Fort Scott or Bourbon County will also be paying that tax.
Martin said he has been approached by a group from Neosho County that is working under a federal grant to provide services to released inmates to teach them soft job skills, such as how to complete job applications.
"But the problem is, the people have to want it," Martin said. "We can throw everything at them, but they're the ones that are going to have to take the first step and move forward."
Michelle King took the tour because she spent seven months as an inmate.
"I have a concern for the people that's in here," King said. "I really want a new jail."
She said her concern is the safety issues.
"You're not the only one," Martin said. "There's people who have served here overnight for 48 hours and when they walk out, they say 'Something needs to be done.' And these are people that are business people in the community. I'm not going to release names, but they say 'This is ridiculous.'"
Those are people who most likely were arrested for DUI, Martin said.
Also on the tour was Heather Russell of Community Corrections. Martin said she works with inmates after they are released and placed on community corrections.
It is her job to make sure the inmates are following the orders of their probation. If not, she will petition the county attorney to have the inmates returned to jail, Martin said.
"We use this quite a bit for 48-hour or 36-hour stations, so we have an interest in this as well," Russell said. "If we are requiring that our clients come over here and serve time, we need to know that they're safe over here. We trust our COs and staff, but safety-wise, it's not where it should be."
King said while she served her time, because of the high jail population numbers, she had to be transferred to Cherokee County, which cost the county money.
Martin said during the county's budget work sessions, the county attorney and county commissioners determine a "reasonable" number of inmates to be housed outside the county. The court system makes the decision on how much time a person will serve in the county jail.
Martin said jail officials have been in contact with other counties to determine if they would be willing to send inmates to a new facility if it were built in Bourbon County. But construction must be started before contracts are signed, Martin said.
At this time, a location for a new facility has not been determined. Martin has his eyes on three sites: south of Fort Scott near Mercy Hospital Fort Scott; on property between Wendy's and Sekan Printing; and a third location which Martin said might already be sold.
If a new facility is built, Martin said the existing building could be partially bulldozed, but the east portion of the building serves as the handicapped entrance for the courthouse. However, he said most likely the building would not be bulldozed, but repurposed as storage or expanded offices for other county departments.
Martin said there have been questions about remodeling or adding on to the existing facility. He said remodeling is out of the question because removing concrete walls would jeopardize the integrity of the building's structure. He said adding on to the building would take away parking, which is already at a premium. Martin said expanding at the current location also would not resolve the issue with line-of-sight.
While sheriff's office and jail officials were leading the tours, SEKRCC Administrative Assistant Rachel Thompson stayed busy at the security check area to maintain the security of the jail.
During the tours, visitors did not see any populated areas. There were 24 inmates who were moved to another county so the tours could take place. Reed said Bourbon County received a break on the cost of housing prisoners from Allen County because officials there know Bourbon County is promoting a new jail.
The cost for housing inmates from about 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesday was $10 per day, which included a meal.
Martin and Reed are hoping the bond issue will be placed on the April ballot. If so, they would like to have a second open house in March.
"We did a test run and it went well," Reed said.
The next step in the process will be a telephone call. Martin said residents can expect to be asked to take part in a 15-minute survey the first or second week of December. Martin said during the Friday Bourbon County Commission Meeting that the draft survey questions have been received.
Reed encourages anyone with questions, whether they are for or opposed to the project, to contact him at 223-2380 or Martin at 223-1440.
"It's not really a want. It's a need," Reed said. "And not only a need for my staff's safety, it's just as much for the inmates' and their safety and living environment."