Monday night at a special meeting the Lawrence County Quorum Court voted to go forward with a proposed tax measure to be placed on the November ballot to fund the jail project. The public will be asked to vote on a half cent sales tax to fund and help upkeep the multi-million dollar project.
Facing a deadline set by the Jail Standards Committee the JP’s voted to move forward with the next step in the process. Closing of the current facility without a replacement in place would not only be costly for the county but also for the cities in the county that use the facility. According to Judge Dale Freeman 3/8 of the proposed 1/2 cent would be used to build the facility and the additional 1/8 would be used for upkeep on the building.
Ordinances will now be written to place the tax proposal on the November ballot, Quorum Court members will hold another meeting on Wednesday for further planning. The proposed 100 bed facility will be built on property in Walnut Ridge already owned by the county.
Freeman also mentioned that the proposed 200 bed state facility for a regional jail has not yet been decided on but did say if the regional jail were to be built then the new sales tax would go away. The decision on the placement of a regional facility is up to the Governor’s Office.
The next meeting of the Lawrence County Quorum Court is Wednesday concerning the jail project. the proposed vote for the new jail tax is November 15th.