County jail door jams, inmates stuck in cell
Commission asks Hillsboro to consider compromise
Staff reporter
It was a few tense hours March 12 when a cell door at Marion County Jail would not open.
According to Marion County Sheriff Lee Becker, some inmates who were serving weekend court commitments and scheduled to be released at 5:30 p.m., became trapped in a cell when a steel, rolling cell door jammed.
It took a locksmith several hours to open the door to release the prisoners.
"What if there was a medical emergency or a fire?" asked Becker. "There would be no way to get to the prisoners in time."
Undersheriff Randy Brazil also was on the scene.
"The doors work manually," said Brazil. "A mechanism failed in the door."
A repairman was at the jail Monday to attempt to repair the door.
An updated or new facility would have a second exit for such emergencies, said Brazil.
Becker said the emergency "brought home" increasing concerns about the 1930s jail facility.
One-half percent sales tax?
Marion County Commission Chairman Dan Holub wants the City of Hillsboro to consider a less than one percent sales tax increase for a county justice center.
Hillsboro City Council recently passed a resolution that stated it was not opposed to a project that could house a new jail, dispatch department, and judicial services but was opposed to a one cent special sales tax to fund the project.
"I don't know where the city got one percent," said Holub Monday during a county commission meeting. "It's not a set amount."
Holub said Hillsboro City Council and residents approved a sales tax for a swimming pool and were called "progressive."
Quoting a past newspaper article, Holub continued that the city was quoted in saying the one-half cent sales tax increase was a "relatively small percent," but recent comments by Hillsboro residents indicated a one-half cent sales tax for a jail was going to "kill Hillsboro business," said Holub.
He said he considers a sales tax to be a "very fair tax."
"Property tax increases would have a negative impact," Holub said. He said he wondered if Hillsboro considered the same transportation logic for transporting residents to McPherson to swim instead of building a pool.
He then asked those in the room if anyone knew the amounts Salina and McPherson charge for sales tax. No one in the room knew the amounts.
"I wonder if people really consider the amount of sales tax when they make purchases," said Holub. "I don't think it's a 'deal buster'.
"If a sales tax was good enough to fund a pool, it needs to be considered for funding a jail," he said, "something we have to use."
Currently, the county has a one percent sales tax that was implemented in April 1987.
The sales tax was approved by county residents without a specific intended use. After the tax was approved, the commission determined 80 percent of the revenue would be used for roads, and 20 percent would be used at the discretion of the commission.
Holub explained that in the beginning of the planning process, the county considered just a jail facility but it made sense to include dispatch, and with additional court security issues, a judicial center.
"These are not inflated figures," Holub said, "but best-guess figures."
The state considers the current jail out-of-compliance and Holub said it's just a matter of time before the state will force the county to transport prisoners to another facility if renovations aren't made to the current jail or a new jail scheduled for construction.
Commissioner Randy Dallke said the purpose of the most-recent public meeting was to keep the public informed.
"It's a Marion County problem," he said. "If you live in Marion County, you better be concerned."
Dallke said he had been contacted by the City of Florence regarding the former nursing home property in Florence as a possible location for a jail facility.
Architect Dan Hall of BG Consultants also is working on cost reductions and better use of space in the facility. Research is being conducted regarding grants which includes a federal grant for housing federal prisoners on immigration charges.
County clerk Carol Maggard reported she is contacting other county clerks that have larger jail facilities regarding funding options. Michele Abbott-Becker, county emergency management director, also is researching grants.
Maggard referred to a newspaper article provided by Eighth Judicial Chief Judge Michael Powers. The article was about possible plans to upgrade the security of Dickinson County court services through a USDA Rural Development grant.
Commissioner Bob Hein was ill and did not attend Monday's meeting.
