Muscatine

Welcome to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, headed by the famed Sheriff Joe Arpaio, is the most talked about and nationally recognized Sheriff's Office in the country today. Why? Because we are innovative.   No other detention facility in the country, state or county can boast of 2,000 convicts in tents; no other county or state facility can boast of a gleaning program that results in costs of under 15 cents per meal per inmate; few others can say they have women in tents or on chain gangs and no other sheriff's office in the United States today has a volunteer posse of 3,000 men and women, people from the community who spend their time and money to train to be volunteers helping to keep the county free from crime.   From an enforcement perspective, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office prides itself on serving and protecting the people who live in a huge county... 9,200 square miles... an area larger than some states. Furthermore, Sheriff Arpaio has a philosophy of zero tolerance towards the criminal element, which has been embraced by deputies and community alike.   Because of Arpaio's immense popularity, citizens have united in a partnership with law enforcement to an unprecedented degree. This office is proud to be on the leading edge of law enforcement and incarceration.

All I am saying is that the subject needs to be explored very carefuly. I am not suggesting that we get soft on folks that need to be locked up. What public good does it do to lock up a person for public intoxication? I sugget that  there is no threat to society and no real good is done other than the drunk is off the streets for a while. Our tax dollars could be better spent. Making a few dollars from houusing federal inmates may or may not be a great idea. If county tax dollars are going to be spent to house them, it does not look like a good idea to me. County tax dollars are to be spent on county issues. Let the Feds build or pay for housing their own problems.  Without some sort of written guarantee that they will pay  for the addition or a contract that they wil be here for the long term, it is not a good idea. A handshake and a wink are not good enough. We need to ask how many feds we are now holding vs how many folks are at the Work Release center vs how many beds are open at the ain jail vs the cost of new construction vs the cost of recitivisim vs other methods of controlling folks vs tax dollars. It is not an  easy thing to get answers to and we MUST make sure we are not being led astray.

Sheriff Joe in Arizona operates under a very different set of jail standards than iowa. What Sheriff Joe fails to let you know is the dollar ammount of lawsuits he has paid off to keep up his reputation as the countrys toughest sheriff. It is amazing that the voters continue to vote for him.  Given the demographics of the area it is not really a suprise. He is the consumate politician and not all the media cracks him up to be.

 

 

Kind of interesting that a couple folks seem to think the Sheriff has the choice of who is incarcerated and who is eligible for some other type of detention.  In Iowa a court makes those decisions and a Sheriff is bound by the courts sentence.  The "Work Release" facility was put into use nearly two decades ago.  It was purchased by the county for a temporary use facility as it is nothing more than a metal building not meant to house people.  Although it has undergone several improvements the state has allowed it to be used as a temporary facility for years but has continually stated that it does not meet standards of the state for confinement.  If you believe this building will eventually get approved by the state your fooling yourself, it does not have the capacity to ever meet state approval and eventually the state will stop stalling and order it closed, permanently.

You are 100% correct that the courts tell the Sheriff who to lock up and for how long. Thank you for pointing that out. It seems that the BoS need to also include the courts and probation in the process of deciding how to best spend our tax dollars on a Jail. I suspect that based on the things that most of the Board said that this will not be done. Most of them are already convinced that there is a need for more bricks and mortar without considering that it may not be.

While the WRC may be out of date, maybe there needs to be serious consideration of simply relocating it to another building. It seems that the county owns the old county home but then again there is oposition to that option also.

We MUST manage the tax dollars efficientlly and not just build more beds because someone says so. It MUST be fully explored.
Lets be smart and use the most up to date ways to amnage the jail and its future. that includes electronic monotoring and programs to reduce recitivisim. Muscatine County needs to join the 21st century.