Jail may be closed for good without improvements

by The Associated Press

Jail may be closed for good without improvements
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Story Published: Jul 4, 2008 at 4:41 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jul 6, 2008 at 10:40 PM CDT

By Paula Dowler

JASPER, Ark. -- The Newton County Jail, where two inmates committed suicide this year, holds no inmates after Sheriff Keith Slope temporarily closed the facility. County officials have been told by the Arkansas Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committee that the closure could become permanent if the jail isn't brought up to state standards.

Following the two suicides, questions were raised about the jail's safety, and Slope sent its inmates to the Carroll County jail.

The state jail standards panel sent Newton County Judge Harold Smith, the county's top elected administrator, a letter concerning the jail. That letter listed problems found in jail inspections, which the county was told about but hasn't corrected.

Those problems include chronic overcrowding, not enough staff, not enough space for inmates to exercise, not enough space to separate juveniles from adults and men from women, cell design and a dilapidated kitchen.

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