Riit ilo Kajin Majōl: Washington County Judge eo eṃōj an kabōjrak Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee
What is the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee? It is a committee that advises the Quorum Court on issues related to the jail, courts, and laws at the local level. There are 15 people on committee who are appointed by the County Judge and confirmed by the Quorum Court. The committee members can be local judges, prison guards, state lawyers, police, doctors and nurses, social workers and therapists, and county officials. The National Center for State Courts recommended that Washington County have this kind of a committee to develop solutions to reduce the jail population but still keep the community safe.
The CJCC was formed to examine ways to reduce crowding at the Washington County jail. The jail has space for about 700 beds but the number of people has exceeded 800 several times with people sleeping on mats on the floor. The committed studied the data of local and regional jails and prisons as well as data from Washington County Regional Crisis Stabilization Unit. A crisis stabilization unit provides support for people experiencing extreme anxiety or depression, overusing alcohol or drugs, or considering hurting themselves or others.
To reduce the number of people in the jail, the CJCC proposed a pretrial services program to help reduce crowding in the jails. The program would use $200,000 from the County Budget and $550,000 from a federal grant for a mental health court, similar to the state’s drug court program. That means a person who is arrested, but not considered a threat in general, would be sent home to await trial. In the drug court program, a person who has been arrested for drug use is released from jail but reports for a period of time for drug tests. They might have to take classes or work with a counselor to address something like drug use or anger problems.
NWA Democrat Gazette reported that, in October 2023, Washington County Judge Deakins ordered that this Committee stop meeting because the terms of the committee members had expired. Committee members are allowed to serve for two terms of three-years. The suspension of the CJCC has resulted in blocking these proposals. Instead, Judge Deakins is going forward with a $20 million plan to expand the jail using money from the American Rescue Plan. Even though voters rejected other jail expansion plans using sales taxes and covid-relief money, Judge Deakins hopes to see construction to expand the jail by the end of the year.
The Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition has continued to petition the Quorum Court to allow the CJCC to continue with their work and move forward with the recommendations made before. This kind of committee plays an important role in advancing changes that promote justice in the community. It brings together people from law enforcement, the courts, social services, nonprofits, and people in the community advocating for fairness in the way we punish crimes and rehabilitate those people. It also promotes collaboration across the community so that the law can treat people according to their needs and individual circumstances and so that ALL residents can be safe but also live in a more JUST community.
