News from September 9, 2004 issue


Regional jail idea gaining steam
Officials from Crittenden and Livingston counties say they're beginning to enter into uncharted waters, but so far it's been smooth sailing in regard to the regional jail concept.

Judge-executives and magistrates from both counties are encouraged by the cooperation so far and none foresee any major stumbling blocks. However, all agree that the devil is sometimes in the detail.

"We still have to work out all of the details," said Livingston Judge-Executive Chris Lasher. "We have to determine things like financing the jail itself, how to go about hiring people, where the dispatching will be done and other things like that. The one big thing we continue to stress is fairness and equity between the two counties."

Officials in both counties agree on some of the major issues such as the need for a joint effort in building a 150-bed jail, a preliminary location in Marion and necessity of making sure everything is equal between the two original partners.

"Right now I can't see anything that would stop this from happening," said Crittenden Judge-Executive Fred Brown.

The regional jail committee met last week in Smithland and talked about financing issues and a payment plan for the jail, which will cost somewhere just under $5 million, according to current projections. Ross Sinclair Associates is a financial consulting firm and bond issuing company that has been involved in the talks. Brown said the financial firm thinks the jail project is on sound footing and would meet bonding requirements.

Fiscal courts in the two counties have copies of a model ordinance that they could present during meetings this month which would move the process further along. The ordinance would create a Crittenden-Livingston Regional Jail Authority. The authority would be responsible for oversight of financing, constructing and operating the jail
Lasher likens the cooperation on the regional jail concept to the vision of leaders in the early 1980s who developed the Crittenden-Livingston Water District.

"That joint venture has always worked very well because the district has worked extremely hard to be fair. If it lays two miles of water line in one county, it lays two miles in the other county. That always seems to make the process run smoothly," Lasher said.

Other Livingston County officials remain on board now that the site seems to be apparent. Crittenden magistrates agreed last month to buy a lot and retain an option on another behind the current jail and between Carlisle and Depot streets. Siting of a proposed regional jail has been the death knell of the concept in two previous attempts at joint efforts over the last 10 or 15 years.

"Crittenden seems to have the perfect place for it in Marion, especially with the police force that's available there," said Livingston magistrate Jerry Deatherage.

"We're going to have to build a jail and I see this thing eventually being self-supporting somewhere down the line."

Livingston Sheriff Tommy Williams thinks the regional concept will save money for both counties.

"I kind of think this is going to happen this time," he said. "It will be fine to build in Crittenden County and I think it will provide jobs for both counties."

The two counties spent almost $700,000 on their jails last fiscal year and officials agree that if the regional concept does nothing more than stop annual increases, it will be successful. Since 1982, local expenditures on corrections have increased almost 500 percent in Kentucky, according to the Kentucky League of Cities.

Lasher said the jail would need to house at least 28 Class D inmates that are paid for by the state in order to break even.

"We did a snapshot of the number of inmates in the state penal system a couple of months ago and there were 78 out there who could be sentenced to this facility," Lasher said, noting that Kentucky pays $26 per day to jails that keep those inmates.

Other counties also pay certified jails to keep inmates. Union County, for instance, is overcrowded in its jail and is using others in the area to house prisoners. Lyon County does not have a jail and sends almost all of its inmates to Caldwell County.

Crittenden County Jailer Rick Riley has said that he believes inmates to fill a 150-bed regional jail will be easy to find. He said overcrowding is a statewide problem.

The role of county jailers in the regional concept is one issue that remains to be worked out in detail, officials say.

The regional jail committee will meet again at 9 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 23 at the Salem Baptist Church.

Deer hunters bagging area beds
With the rifle deer season just two months away most of the area's overnight lodging availability is filling up.

Marion has two bed and breakfasts and one 19-room motel for a total of 35 available rooms. As of Tuesday, they were about 60 percent gone, according to owners and operators.

Myers Bed and Breakfast downtown has no vacancy; Marion Inn on U.S. 641 south of town has four rooms available and Tobin's Tourotel on Sturgis Road has about half of its 19 rooms booked.

Deer hunters flock into Crittenden County for the 16-day modern rifle deer season which will be Nov. 13-18. The two bed and breakfasts say they generally fill up with deer hunters, but Kenny Patel at Tobin's admits that business has been down the last few years. He blames the economy.

"We used to be 70 or 80 percent full, now it's about 40 or 50 percent in deer season," said Patel who bought the motel six years ago. "We used to have a lot of business, but now it's slowing down. It's not like it used to be and I think it's like that all over town."

If business is slowing elsewhere, no one seems to notice. In fact, most say just the opposite.

Bill Wheeler, who owns The Coffee Shop and Front Porch restaurants, says deer hunters mean big bucks running through his tills.
"Our breakfast business quadruples during the rifle season and the other meals double," said Wheeler, who pointed out that his restaurants get a smaller bump during the less attended deer seasons such as archery and blackpowder hunting.

Bowhunters can pursue deer from Sept. 4 through Jan. 17. Blackpowder hunting is in two segments Oct. 16-17 and Dec. 4-10 and is generally the second most attractive periods for hunters.

Owners of gas stations, convenience centers and sporting goods stores say they see huge increases during the deer seasons.

"We're book a year in advance," said Jim Myers, who along with his wife Myrle operate the bed and breakfast in town. "During the bow season we average filling about an extra room a night."

The bed and breakfasts have seen a jump in occupancy too since Lafayette Heights, a bed and breakfast in rural Frances, went out of business when its owners retired about a year ago.

Rosalind Hillis, who owns Marion Inn, said she fills her basement first with deer hunters.

"They seem to like it down there better, but I seldom book the four upstairs rooms in advance," she said.

But come November, she said most rooms available now will be gone.
Despite the influx of visitors during the fall hunting seasons, the lodging operators all admit that July remains their biggest month.

"October is good too because of the bow season and there are a lot of reunions during that month," Myers said.

 

Crittenden teen hurt in ATV accident
A Crittenden County High School junior is at Kosair's Children's Hospital in Louisville following a four-wheeler accident Monday near Tolu.

Joe LaPradd, 16, fell from a four-wheeler Monday afternoon and was taken to Livingston Hospital by his mother, Darla LaPradd. From there, he was flown to Kosair's.

Friends say the fall caused damage to a bone between his spine and skull.

An account to help family members with expenses while they stay with LaPradd in Louisville has been established at Farmers Bank in Marion.