Pope Co. holding election for public safety tax
Pope County voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide on a sales tax increase to fund a new detention facility and 911 dispatch center. That’s when voters will be asked to approve a three-quarter-cent "Public Safety Tax." Pope County Judge Ben Cross and Sheriff Shane Jones have spent the past several months conducting town hall meetings in an effort to educate the public about the aging facility's issues and limitations. Judge Cross said the size of the jail means they haven’t been able to arrest all of those facing charges...
"To address what's a core need of any county, and that's a 911 system, along with a jail to combat recidivism," Jones explained. "We started the year with nearly 11,000 active misdemeanor warrants between Russellville Police, Pope County, Atkins, Dover, Pottsville, all those respective municipalities..."
Sheriff Jones says the lack of bed space has been a contributing factor in the county’s repeat offender problem...
"We want a slow recidivism rate, the repeat offenders," Jones said. "There's very successful programs out there that has slowed that recidivism rate. With the facility that we have now, we don't have the room to bring those programs in. With this new facility, we will have the room to bring those successful programs in and hopefully slow down that recidivism rate..."
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