TEXARKANA, Ark. - After two Miller County committees jointly met Tuesday to work out issues involving the Juvenile Detention Center and other topics, they decided that a special Quorum Court meeting would be better.
Following two hours of discussion, both the county's Budget and Finance Committee and the Juvenile Detention Center Committee agreed to hold a special Quorum Court meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday inside the courthouse's second floor courtroom.
Budget and Finance Committee Chairman Ernest Pender said the sooner the JDC and other pressing issues could be dealt with, the better - especially with the county's overall budget planning work sessions "just around the corner.'
The JDC is holding more Texas nonviolent juvenile offenders then it has from the county, and the JDC's operation is costing the county $1,251,866 a year, mostly in personnel. Other expenses are about $65,500 for services and another $62,050 for supplies.
Justice of the Peace Jimmy Cowart said he believed it would be a mistake to close the center down.
Justice of the Peace John Haltom said he believed county had just three options - One: continue to operate the center and continue to lose money on it. Two: take the inmates to other detention centers in the state. Three: ask Texarkana, Arkansas, to help pay half the cost.
Other Committees members said that Bowie County decided years ago to just have their juveniles transported to other centers in Texas when it got too expensive to house them within the county.
Pender said work started on the center in 1993 before it opened in about 1995. Other justices of the peace said the city did help pay for the center at least as far as into the late 1990s. They also mentioned that once a juvenile is arrested, he or she becomes the county's responsibility.
Pender and other JPs suggested that the building could be used to house the county's Office of Emergency Services, as well as serve as a sub-office for the county coroner. He added that those operations could perhaps be in addition to a holding place so juvenile offenders could be transported to other detention centers in Arkansas.
Besides discussion regarding the JDC's future, the two committees also considered possibly adding a human resources office to the county to take care of personnel matters - such as including sick leave, employee health insurance and other concerns.
Miller County Judge Cathy Harrison said she has heard people from other Arkansas counties say that Miller County needs an HR office.
Following some additional discussion, the two committees agreed to have a full Quorum Court meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday and to invite Arkansas-side city officials and circuit judges to attend regarding the JDC.