Sheriff's Office assembles public committee to assess jail

The Cleburne County Jail was opened in 1979, and had an addition added in 2005. There have been regular issues with the physical jail dating back to 2012, and many of those issues have grown worse every year.  Around 2015, then Sheriff Alan Roberson started sounding alarm bells about some serious growing concerns in the jail, and I have continued to voice those same concerns. Starting around 2017 or 2018, the Quorum Court started a Jail Committee to start working toward solutions.  In 2019, the Sheriff's Office formed and recommended a new housing plan to bring the jail back into compliance with State Standards (the Sheriff's Office issued a press release outlining the new housing plan, and that can be found on our website). In terms of operations since 2019, the jail has been running as well as it can, complying with State Standards, despite the physical building continuing to degrade and hinder operations.  In response to the continuing failures in the physical building, and the limitations on actually holding people in jail, the Sheriff's Office has formed a "Public Safety Assessment Committee" comprised of community members from all over the county. The committee will have the opportunity hear from State officials, Sheriff's Office and Jail officials, tour our jail as well as others, look at cost evaluations, and more. At their conclusion, they will provide a recommendation to the County for what the future of the jail should look like (in terms of closing the current facility, renovating the existing building, or constructing a new building). The meetings will be open to the public, and there will be a short question time at the end of each meeting (excluding jail tour meetings) for the public.  Our first meeting will be held Monday July 11th at 6pm at the Heber Springs Community Center. For any questions, please contact the Sheriff's Office at 501-362-8143.

-Sheriff Chris Brown

What: First meeting of Public Safety Assessment Committee
When: Monday July 11th, 6pm
Where: Heber Springs Community Center