Now that the Pulaski County Commissioners have chosen a path for a potential courthouse renovation, Sheriff Jeff Richwine is renewing calls for a dedicated work release facility. He told the county council last week that while there are no easy answers for preventing drug addiction, additional programs could help treat the problem that already exists.
“It’s obvious, it’s obvious, crystal clear, that throwing somebody in jail is not doing anybody any good,” Richwine said. “And I hear the same thing you guys hear, ‘Oh, you know, well, that’s the best place.’ We’ve got to do more, and we’ve got to do more because we pay for them no matter where they’re at.”
The sheriff noted that the Pulaski County Jail’s recidivism rate is almost 70 percent, but problem-solving courts have been shown to reduce that significantly. “I’m telling you, I’ve been there long enough now that I’ve seen three times, come and gone, they’ll tell you on the day they’re walking out of jail, ‘I’ll be back. I can’t whip this problem. I’ll be back,’” Richwine said. “And it’s not just the bad people or the people that live over there. It’s everybody. If you get attacked by this drug problem, it’s not the family’s fault. Some people just have a drug problem.”
A work release facility was proposed for the Justice Center basement as part of last year’s facilities plan that would have also involved demolishing the courthouse. The courthouse renovation plan that the commissioners chose last week leaves that basement space open but doesn’t include a cost estimate for a work release facility.
Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer said Pulaski County’s manufacturing community is on board with increased work release opportunities. “I hate to be too cynical-sounding, but they see it’s a captive workforce,” Origer said. “There are better controls over these people than there are some of the people they hire and who are there for a day and don’t come back, and they want to be part of the solution. They will benefit from it themselves.” Origer said he couldn’t commit any money, but he was confident that there was enough interest among manufacturers that they’d help cover some of the program costs.
During this week’s commissioners meeting, Richwine publicly thanked them for voting to fix the courthouse and move Circuit Court to the Justice Center. “I can’t tell you how much of a load that takes off of our jailers,” Richwine told the commissioners. “I’ve been to most commissioner meetings for seven years, and a group before you tried to get it done and couldn’t. So I just wanted to publicly thank you three for doing that, and I know every jailer that has to drag somebody across the street appreciates it, too, so thank you.”
Commissioner Kenny Becker gave Richwine some information provided by Cass County’s courthouse security officers, about a Homeland Security grant for walk-through metal detectors.
