Preliminary plans for a new county jail in Lawrence County are being drawn up. The Lawrence County Quorum Court approved a construction firm that will provide justices with different jail options. The Sun reports South Build contractors were selected to provide the layouts for the jail, which could house at least 100 inmates. No word on exact cost estimates, but County Judge Dale Freeman says the new jail could cost as much as nine-million-dollars. Freeman says the county is looking at a half-cent sales tax increase or more for construction of a jail. Arkansas Jail Standards threatened to close the current jail last year, due to it being overcrowded and numerous safety violations. Justices could see initial plans for the new jail next month.
Johnathan Reaves is the News Director for KASU Public Radio. As part of an Air Force Family, he moved to Arkansas from Minot, North Dakota in 1986. He was first bitten by the radio bug after he graduated from Gosnell High School in 1992. While working on his undergraduate degree, he worked at KOSE, a small 1,000 watt AM commercial station in Osceola, Arkansas. Upon graduation from Arkansas State University in 1996 with a degree in Radio-Television Broadcast News, he decided that he wanted to stay in radio news. He moved to Stuttgart, Arkansas and worked for East Arkansas Broadcasters as news director and was there for 16 years.