I am personally proud of the fine employees we have at Benton County. They are eager to do the job if given clear direction from the commission. I look forward to working with the staff and the public to help make Benton County a better place to live. A quality public safety program is important to our quality of life. This is very clearly a county responsibility.
Jails are never a popular issue and quite often a difficult issue to bring before the public.
The commissioners have convened an extensive public process to review the issue and attempt to find a community solution. Much community input has been taken and numerous forums conducted. An affirmative community opinion vote was taken last November. I wish to thank the many busy citizens of this county who spent many unpaid hours working on the jail issue and coming up with a plan which they believe will resolve the space needs of Benton County for some years to come. Local architects, contractors and engineers have visited other facilities in addition to professionals who have built jails.