By Stacy Ryburn
Times Record
FORT SMITH, Ark. — As a cost-cutting measure, the LeFlore County Detention Center Public Trust has hired a new jail administrator, and it is looking at other ways to lower expenditures.
In January, the state hired a new director at the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and tasked him with overhauling the prison system. In April, the state began expediting state prisoners being held at county jails to the state prisons as a way to tighten the $464 million annual state prison system budget, according to a May 19 Times Record report.
The LeFlore County County Detention Center is funded through a combination of a ¼-cent sales tax for operations and maintenance at the facility, commissary sales and DOC prisoner income. The state prisoner income has waned because the inmates who normally would stay in county jail for several months at a time awaiting transportation to state prison are now quickly moving through the system, said Public Trust Chairman Lance Smith.
Without those inmates, the jail could lose more or less than $33,000 each month in revenue, Smith said.
To make up for the loss in revenue, the Public Trust in its May 29 meeting laid off jail administrator Claude Jones, who was earning about $3,800 per month. The move coincides with about 10 total layoffs jail officials have made to save money, Smith said.
Lt. Donnie Edwards with the LeFlore County Sheriff’s Office was named interim administrator, and in its Wednesday meeting, the Public Trust appointed Edwards as permanent administrator with a $3,000-per-month salary.
“It’s just another step toward reaching our goals,” Smith said. “Any large branch of the county, such as the Detention Center, that’s on a huge budget — that’s just one more step toward reaching financial stability for that service.”
The board cited Edwards’ 22 years of experience in law enforcement and his six years serving with the Public Trust as the basis for his appointment. LeFlore County Sheriff Rob Seale will take over Edwards’ spot on the board, which was also finalized Wednesday.
Edwards will continue serving as a lieutenant with the Sheriff’s Office while acting as a supervisor to the jail deputies who oversee an average daily population of about 130 inmates. As of Thursday, the jail was holding 32 DOC inmates, but they likely won’t be staying at the jail for very long before being moved to state prison, Edwards said.
Aside from layoffs, jail administration officials are eyeing internal changes to the jail’s operations, such as emphasizing preventative medical care, Edwards said.
Seale said Edwards has been doing well as jail administrator.
“There’s more structure, so there’s a more positive environment at the jail with the employees,” he said. “The place is being kept cleaner, which makes things easier with the inmates. It keeps them happier, which creates fewer problems with the detention officers.”
Jail officials are still looking at other ways to cut down on costs, such as reductions in food expenses, bed-distribution costs and fuel, along with other measures, Smith said.
“We’re looking at maybe doing fuel cards that will be a little bit cheaper than actually buying fuel at a store out of a pump, so that we won’t have to pay the taxes on it,” he said.
The jail hasn’t received any county funds since its construction in 2005 — which is something that might have to change, Smith said.
“That is something that we will look at this next fiscal year,” he said. “We may have to ask for at least a small budget from the county to offset some of the expenses we have to the Detention Center.”