A little more than a year after ground was broken for the new Searcy County Jail, a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house for the new facility is set for Thursday from 11:00 until 1:00. The new facility is across the street from the current sheriff’s office.Sheriff Joey Pruitt, deputies and staff, along with inmates, will soon be moving into their new home, a new law enforcement facility, including sheriff’s office and 30 bed jail. It replaces the existing 1983 jail and sheriff’s office that failed current 2014 Arkansas Criminal Detention Facilities Standards.The Harrison Daily Times reports Searcy County Judge Jim Harness says he found a letter on his desk from the Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committee when he took office in January 2015.
The letter gave the county a deadline of June 7th, 2015 to have an approved plan in place to correct deficiencies or close the county jail, which could house 10 inmates, although in substandard conditions.
Because renovation of the existing facility wasnt feasible, the Searcy County Quorum Court voted in January 2016 to build a new jail meeting standards.
But with the county ranked as one of the lowest in tax revenue in the state, it was a daunting task. The average cost of new facilities was well more than the county could afford. The quorum court established a budget of $2 million.
The design-build team of Davis Construction Inc. and Elton L Roe, Architect PA of Harrison accepted the challenge and put together a design and budget proposal in March of 2017 to build an 8,170-square-foot, 30-bed jail and sheriffs office facility,
Voters in November 2016 approved a half-percent county sales tax and bond issue to fund the project. Construction of the new facility started in November 2017.
Construction of the new facility kept the current jail in operation and saved the county tax payers the cost and time involved in transporting inmates to and from other counties for inmate housing and court appearances.
Sheriff Pruitt estimates the county could have spent as much as $700,000 a year with associated daily room and board and vehicle expense.
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