Dear Editor,

This is in response to Mr. David Dickerson’s comments about the Barren County Correction Center.

It is in my opinion that a new jail needs to be built. As it stands, the jail that the county has now is a crumbling mess. It is not only dangerous for the inmates to be housed there, but it is also dangerous for the correctional officers who work there.

The renovations that were done to the jail years ago were subpar to say the least, without any detail to security whatsoever. The last major breakout the correctional center had is a testament to this fact.

The inmates in this incident simply made their way into the ceiling and tore a hole through the roof with very few tools in hand. The main tool they used was their feet. They were able to kick a hole in the roof and escape!

And yes, Mr. Dickerson, a profit can be made from housing other county and state inmates due to the fact that those counties and the state pay fees to the Barren County Correction Center to do so. Not to mention the profits made from the commissary and the sale of phone cards to the inmates.

And no, Mr. Dickerson, there are no additional costs, because the individual counties and state pay for any additional costs incurred.

As it stands, the Barren County Correction Center is a self-sufficient entity. It would seem to me that Mr. Dickerson is the one trying to taint the minds of voters by throwing out such a large figure – $14 million – without doing his research. The (Barren County) fiscal court has had ample time to decide what needs to be done about this issue, but they still continue to drag their feet.

My question to them would be: Have they even looked into obtaining grant money from the government to assist with the construction of a new facility?

I do agree with Mr. Dickerson on one aspect and that is the renovation of the jail. This would be an absolute waste of time and money. One can only fix an old car so many times before they have to take a trip to the local dealership to purchase a newer vehicle that is more dependable and reliable.

But Mr. Dickerson also states that the county could bring the jail up to standard to house only inmates that have been sentenced in Barren County. The problem with this is that the law enforcement agencies within the county (Barren County Sheriff’s office, Glasgow Police Department, Cave City Police Department) bring in several prisoners on a daily basis just on basic arrests.

And on top of that, Mr. Dickerson only wants males to be housed. These people still have to be booked in and processed through. Just in the month of October alone the jail booked in 292 prisoners (85 to 95 percent being Barren County prisoners), 62 of whom were female. Transporting the females to different facilities would not be very cost effective. For example, let’s say the above mentioned departments brought in a total of six females in just in one day at different time frames.

First, you would have to locate a facility that would be willing to house them. Second, you would have to transport them to that facility, meaning someone would be driving back and forth constantly. Third, they still would have to be transported back to Barren County to appear in court if they did not have a preset bond.

To accomplish this, the county would have to purchase at least two to three vehicles (maybe more if the jail is shut completely down) for transportation purposes, not to mention the cost to fuel these vehicles. Also, the county would have to pay a housing fee and whatever other expenditures incurred for these females.

Mr. Dickerson stated that a female deputy sheriff could be used to ride along with the transport officer, but the last I checked Barren County Sheriff’s office only has one actual female deputy and she is a detective. Do you think she would have the time to do this along with her other duties?