High School Football, County Fairs, and now a new annual Autumn event in East Texas: The annual Smith county jail bond proposal! Send in the clowns!
The new proposal, is lower in calories than the last, and county officials are hoping that it will be more palatable than the last two, but I still don't think that county voters can, or will choke it down.
A quote from Judge Kent seems appropriate here:
"Insanity has been defined as "continuing to do the same thing and
expecting different results." Smith County has ignored the needs of the
justice system, judges, courts, and citizens and has since 1984
generally addressed jail overcrowding by building more jail bed space.
I predict this new jail construction plan will cost millions of
dollars, if approved by the voters, and once constructed the new jail
will be overcrowded the first day it is opened. Sounds crazy to me."
I thought it might be time to recap some of the facts:
Facts About the Smith County jail:- The Smith county jail is overcrowded. That is one we all agree on. This breaks down when we get to the reasons why. When more people are being incarcerated here per capita than in any modern totalitarian regime, there is a much bigger problem!
- The reason for overcrowding is that there are people there who don't belong there. The courts and judges have made attempts to correct at least some of this, but the commissioners court has not been supportive of their efforts.
- The cost to outsource housing of inmates is $5.00 per day over what it
would cost to house them in the Smith county jail. This is a fact that
was disguised in the past when we were told that the extra cost was
$40.00.
- The cost of housing them in a new Smith county facility will rise enormously if one is built. The annual increase will be millions!
- The cost of upkeep for such a facility would be more than the present cost, and new personnel would be needed. Further straining the taxpayers. Again, millions!
- The majority of residents in Smith county do not want a new jail, as evidenced by the landslide defeat of the last proposal.
- Residents of Smith county will not vote for a new jail until they see
evidence that alternative plans are being put into place
wholeheartedly.
- Several viable options are available for lowering the jail population. One even signed by the Governor. These have been regularly and summarily rejected by the commissioners court, with no valid reasons why.
- Smith county officials are not taking full advantage of these options.
In some cases, they are not trying to use the options at all.
- Smith county residents do not even want to see a new bond election on
this issue, not even a scaled down "jailhouse lite" version, until the
other options are given a real chance to work!
- Smith county residents would like to have input in the process, above the level that has been allowed thus far.
Knowing
these facts, Smith county commissioners should halt all efforts to
propose a new bond in November, and should use their energies to work on the
alternatives. We know however, that they will plow forward with their efforts, and that will waste even more of the taxpayers money and time. Oh, by the way, that's us!
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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Had a comment this morning from Scott Henson the author of Texas best criminal justice blog, Gritts For Breakfast.
He has an excellent post on the battle between Judge Kent and the ever more obstinate and arrogant county commissioners court.
Just a couple of notes: At least one of the commissioners understands that building a new jail will not solve the problem of overcrowding in Smith county. I am glad he understands, but if that is all he does, then he is worse than the rest!
The court thinks that the public wants a jail! after two landslide defeats, they are apparently still planning to slide a new jail bond into the November ballot! The sad part is that it will likely cause it's own defeat, as well as the defeat of a school bond!
The court seems bent on shoving a new jail down our throats, apparently thinking that county residents are too dumb to understand.
Judge Kent has called this what it is, "insanity!" She is right!
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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It had to happen eventually. Someone discovered, and made public the fact that corruption exists in the Smith county jail the Tyler Morning Telegraph reports. As though that is a big surprise. It is no big wonder though, the salaries these guys earn from the county are hardly a "living wage." That is not justification for the corruption, it is just a neutral fact. One thing that should have already been obvious is that before the county can justify building a new jail, they need to learn how to run the one they have!
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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- The state of Texas incarcerates 44% more of it's residents per capita than the national average! That is more than any totalitarian dictatorship operating in the world today!
- Smith county Texas incarcerates more than 50% more of it's residents per capita than the state of Texas average!
- Probation figures for Smith county are so incredibly high, that I am afraid to quote them for fear that you will think this is a joke! This is not a Joke!
- Put all of this together, and if you live in Smith county Texas, you have a better chance of being arrested and incarcerated than if you were living in Cuba, or Communist China!
- If you haven't been arrested yet, it must be an oversight. They will eventually get around to you!
- Do the math!
- Do the right thing!
- Question the candidates for every public office on this issue, and then vote!
Next time, it could be you!
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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- The state of Texas incarcerates 44% more of it's residents per capita than the national average! That is more than any totalitarian dictatorship operating in the world today!
- Smith county Texas incarcerates more than 50% more of it's residents per capita than the state of Texas average!
- Probation figures for Smith county are so incredibly high, that I am afraid to quote them for fear that you will think this is a joke! This is not a Joke!
- Put all of this together, and if you live in Smith county Texas, you have a better chance of being arrested and incarcerated than if you were living in Cuba, or Communist China!
- If you haven't been arrested yet, it must be an oversight. They will eventually get around to you!
- Do the math!
- Do the right thing!
- Question the candidates for every public office on this issue, and then vote!
Next time, it could be you!
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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Things are eerily quiet over anything related to bond issues these days. I am not sure what is going on with the commissioners court concerning the jail, not much information coming out of the court these days, at least not that I am aware of. That doesn't mean that we can't talk about it. In fact, that is precisely where the whole issue should be, and where the court and other officials have failed!
According to the Tyler paper, shortly after the November bond election managed to defeat itself on a grand scale, "County Judge Joel Baker has ruled out issuing certificates of obligation, which don’t require taxpayer approval, to fund a new jail."
Let's hold him to this! Furthermore, we should agree to refuse to reelect any commissioner who suggests sidestepping the opinion of the public by such means.
It should be painfully obvious to the court by this time, that they don't necessarily have a bad plan, but that the whole idea is wrong. Like Rip Van Winkle, they seem to have slept through the revolution. It must be somewhat disconcerting for them to awake to such a change in attitude, but that is what has happened!
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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It Is Official: Smith County Annual Jail Bond Circus Proposed
This entry was posted on 7/30/2008 5:19 PM and is filed under Smith County Jail.
High
School Football, County Fairs, and now a new annual Autumn event in
East Texas: The annual Smith county jail bond proposal! Send in the
clowns!
The new proposal, is lower in calories than the last,
and county officials are hoping that it will be more palatable than the
last two, but I still don't think that county voters can, or will choke
it down.
A quote from Judge Kent seems appropriate here:
"Insanity has been defined as "continuing to do the same thing and
expecting different results." Smith County has ignored the needs of the
justice system, judges, courts, and citizens and has since 1984
generally addressed jail overcrowding by building more jail bed space.
I predict this new jail construction plan will cost millions of
dollars, if approved by the voters, and once constructed the new jail
will be overcrowded the first day it is opened. Sounds crazy to me."
I thought it might be time to recap some of the facts:
Facts About the Smith County jail:- The Smith county jail is overcrowded. That is one we all agree on. This breaks down when we get to the reasons why. When more people are being incarcerated here per capita than in any modern totalitarian regime, there is a much bigger problem!
- The
reason for overcrowding is that there are people there who don't belong
there. The courts and judges have made attempts to correct at least
some of this, but the commissioners court has not been supportive of
their efforts.
- The cost to outsource housing of inmates is $5.00 per day over what it
would cost to house them in the Smith county jail. This is a fact that
was disguised in the past when we were told that the extra cost was
$40.00.
- The cost of housing them in a new Smith county facility will rise enormously if one is built. The annual increase will be millions!
- The
cost of upkeep for such a facility would be more than the present cost,
and new personnel would be needed. Further straining the taxpayers. Again, millions!
- The majority of residents in Smith county do not want a new jail, as evidenced by the landslide defeat of the last proposal.
- Residents of Smith county will not vote for a new jail until they see
evidence that alternative plans are being put into place
wholeheartedly.
- Several
viable options are available for lowering the jail population. One even
signed by the Governor. These have been regularly and summarily
rejected by the commissioners court, with no valid reasons why.
- Smith county officials are not taking full advantage of these options.
In some cases, they are not trying to use the options at all.
- Smith county residents do not even want to see a new bond election on
this issue, not even a scaled down "jailhouse lite" version, until the
other options are given a real chance to work!
- Smith county residents would like to have input in the process, above the level that has been allowed thus far.
Knowing
these facts, Smith county commissioners should halt all efforts to
propose a new bond in November, and should use their energies to work on the
alternatives. We know however, that they will plow forward with their efforts, and that will waste even more of the taxpayers money and time. Oh, by the way, that's us!
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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More Official Arrogance!
The Tyler Morning Telegraph ran a story on January the 7th concerning an issue brought up here and in other places in the blogosphere soon after the legislation was signed. The Article entitled: "A Night in the Joint," gives a little bit of an overview of what Smith county officials think of the legislation signed by the Governor.
The Governor signed a bill designed to reduce overcrowding in jails by reducing the numbers of pretrial detainees. The law allows for the issue of tickets instead of arrests in some non violent misdemeanor cases. Smith officials don't like it, and they won't play! Smith county officials say they will not use the new tool. The reason? They don't know how, and don't like the precedent it sets! In short, officials just don’t seem to want to alleviate the
overcrowding situation, even when handed the solution in writing, and
signed by the Governor! The stated issue seems to be that no one has
told them how to do it! Surely someone in officialdom, can come up with
a method! Let's not add ignorance and incompetency to the list!
If jail overcrowding is the big problem, and it is, then solving a
few minor problems to get the solution should be something they are
willing to do. Perhaps they are afraid that this might work, and then
all the plans for Jailzilla would just plain look silly.
It might make
the public wonder why so much taxpayer money was spent trying to get
something that we don’t even need! Officials in Tyler and Smith county need to wake up! Proposing a new
jail plan in May will look ridiculous if the alternatives are not given
a chance to work. County commissioners have already ditched the funding
for a program put in place by our judges, and now the D.A. has trashed
the efforts of our legislators by refusing to even give the new plan a
try! If you think the public was hacked off about commissioners giving
themselves raises before the last bond fiasco, wait till you see what
happens in the next one!
Let’s try some logic!
The issue, as it is being presented to the residents of Tyler, and Smith county, is jail overcrowding.
The message from residents of the county is that we do not want to solve the problem by building a huge new jail complex.
Both of these propositions, taken together, constitute a pretty good argument for another option.
Building a smaller, or less expensive jail, is still part of the first proposition, and would satisfy no one. It will not fly.
Building a jail in stages is still a part of the first proposition, it is grounded as well.
So, logically, those propositions are not options. What is left? Only one thing, really, reduce the numbers!
If, indeed, Smith county officials are concerned with jail
overcrowding, and that is the reason for the perceived need for a new
jail complex, then it is time to look at that option!
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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Hold on! This blog is getting a reprieve!
We have decided to continue this blog, and the other blog as well. There will be some changes, but we think you will like them! Give us your feedback!
We will be shuffling some material from place to place, in an effort to balance things out, so there may be some confusion from time to time, but stay with us.
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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This blog is about to get a change of venue! We are moving it to: ajeffersonian.wordpress.com
These pages will remain for a time, the new site will have new posts when the time comes. Check it often!
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| Posted by 1jeffersonian at | | | |
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