Pubdate: Tue, 22 Apr 2003
Source: Big Sandy News, The (KY)
Copyright: 2003 The Big Sandy News
Contact:  http://www.bigsandynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1975
Author: Scott Perry
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

BOND REFINANCE A WISE MOVE

Johnson County Judge-Executive Tucker Daniel's move to refinance the bonds 
owed for constructing the regional jail is a wise move in these uncertain 
times. The responsibility for repaying that debt was just recently 
transferred back to the four participating counties by the jail's board, 
which finds itself in a tight money pinch. Daniel's refinancing plan will 
save fiscal courts in Johnson, Lawrence, Martin and Magoffin counties money.

Additionally, Johnson County is examining the possibility of making those 
it confines to the jail pay some of the costs associated with their 
incarceration. That's not a new idea. The jail board initiated a fee 
structure some months ago that requires those jailed to pay some of the 
costs of their "visits." The operation of jails is one of those costs 
society would rather do without, but there seems to be no end to crime or 
any hope that the county will suddenly find the clue for creating a utopian 
existence. Tight economic situations faced by both state and local 
governments creates another concern. If there is too little money to keep 
criminals in jail, the answer so far has been to turn them loose, and many 
just pick up where they left off...stealing, raping, assaulting. That 
shifts more of the burden to police agencies, which are just as strapped 
for money as anyone else. When it comes to crime, nobody wins. Society 
basically has two choices in this matter. We can contribute more of our 
money to the cause or we can reassess our priorities for sending people to 
jail. Are there less expensive alternatives? Can some jail time offenses be 
converted to fine-only charges? This is not an easy problem to solve, but 
it is one that should get lots of attention from those who write our laws, 
those who enforce them, and those who obey them. As long as we are spending 
more money to keep a criminal in jail than we are spending to send a child 
through school, we need to work to turn those tables. If we just wait and 
hope the problem will go away on its own, we'll get nowhere...fast.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom