Bed shortage at jail costing Henry County taxpayers

By KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

NEW LONDON ? There aren?t enough beds in the Henry County Jail and it?s costing taxpayers big.

That?s the message Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee brought to the New London City Council during its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 7.

Anyone arrested in Henry County, with the exception of federal inmates, are held in the Henry County Jail. That includes anyone picked up by city, county, state police or DNR officers. They are all sent to the Henry County Jail, which only has eight beds.

McNamee said the jail?s average daily population in 2014 was 22.25 people per day.

?You can see the predicament,? he said to the council.

This forces the jail to send inmates to other jailhouses in neighboring counties, usually Louisa County. However, inmates aren?t taken out of neighborly kindness. It costs $40 per day per inmate to be housed at another jail. Plus the cost of transport, which all comes from taxpayers.

In the last three years, McNamee said the boarding inmates at other jails have cost taxpayers anywhere from $150,000 to $180,000 per year. That?s in addition to the jail?s total budget of $600,000.

?Jefferson and Washington Counties have all built new jails and we?ve helped pay for it because we?ve been renting rooms there. We?ve paid for all our neighbors (to build new jails) and we haven?t addressed our problem,? said McNamee.

A referendum to build a new jail was declined by voters in 2005 and again in 2006. However, McNamee is going back to the drawing board to find more bed space. Instead of a new jail, McNamee is hoping to build a new wing onto the jail.

The plan is still in its infancy, but McNamee said the project is looking to cost about $1.5 million.

?I?m asking that you guys consider it seriously when it comes to a conversation with the voters. It?s a terrible burden on you as tax payers, and I encourage you to support it,? said McNamee.

This is the second year McNamee has traveled to the towns within Henry County to talk about the various statistics involving the sheriff?s office, including the number of phone calls they received in 2014.

From Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2014, the sheriff?s office received 42,150 calls. Of that, the New London Police Department was dispatched to 1,176 and the sheriff?s office assisted in 172 calls, including one two weeks ago.

?For the second time in 10 months, we busted a lady on the northwest corner of town that was dealing in illegal drugs, manufacturing drugs and, quite frankly, we arrested her for prostitution as well,? said McNamee. ?She?s sitting in our jail awaiting court time.?

In addition to talking about the bed shortage at the jail, Henry County Attorney, Darin Stater, told the council the county is looking at starting a gun buy back program.

?We had a shooting outside of Chesapeake Apartments not too long ago. It?s one of those deals, it was an argument that started? and escalated quickly,? said Stater.

The Sheriff?s Office was successful in getting the gun used in the attempted murder off the street and ?stopped that gun from going back to Chicago,? Stater went on to say, adding the gun will be destroyed.

?That got us thinking the less types of those guns on the street the better, so we?re going to look (into a buy-back program),? he concluded.

In other news, the council unanimously approved the appointment of Ryan Wilka as police chief. The position was left vacant after John Chaney abruptly resigned last month.

The council also approved placing an advertisement for a full-time police officer. Ads will be placed in the New London Journal, Mt. Pleasant News and Burlington Hawkeye, as well as Iowa Workforce. The deadline for applications is April 28.