Vernon County officials tour jails in Bates, Cass counties

By Steve Moyer

Herald-Tribune

Nevada, Mo. -- A group of Vernon Countians toured the Vernon, Bates, and Cass County jails on Thursday, to look at how other counties have handled prisoner housing needs. Sheriff Ron Peckman said it was a productive, if long, day.

"We left at 8 in the morning and got back at 5 or 5:30," Peckman said. "It went very well. We had several people who went along for the tours. There were eight people who went through the Vernon County and Bates County jails, and about five went through the Cass County jail."

The group looked at the facilities and reviewed how each county operates its jail. Bates and Cass counties have two very different methods of operation.

"Bates County operates theirs as a business," Peckman said. "They take in prisoners for pay. Cass County houses their own prisoners -- just their own."

Even though the Bates County jail is fairly new, Peckman said it is almost paid for.

"We found Bates County will have theirs paid off pretty soon," Peckman said. "That's pretty impressive."

One of the objections raised when Vernon County was investigating the possibility of joining with other counties in a regional justice center was the fear that incarcerating prisoners from other counties might induce their families to move to Vernon County.

"I talked to Ron Snodgrass over in St. Clair County and he said that didn't happen," Peckman said. "Families just can't pick up and move. A lot of the prisoners you get are from so far away the families aren't going to move, they can't afford it."

Peckman said county officials are reviewing the information gathered when the county was considering the possibility of the regional justice center, not to revive the idea, but to evaluate those portions of the information gathered at that time that are still of value.

"They put together plans so we will look at them to get information," Peckman said. "They did a study to see what was needed in this area. There's a lot of good information in there."

All options are on the table as far as Peckman is concerned.

"We haven't been sticking to one way of thinking about it," Peckman said. "We're open to all ideas."

While Cass County houses only their own prisoners, Cass County officials did look at future needs before building the current jail and made provisions for expansion.

"They built theirs for expansion," Peckman said. "They did everything possible at the time, there are some things that aren't finished, but it will be later when they know what the needs are."

While it is more expensive at the time to add items to the basic facility, it actually saves money in the long run, Peckman said.

"They wanted to have a firing range and it would have cost them $50,000 at the time," Peckman said. "Now they are looking at $200,000 for the same facility. The price of metal, the price of labor -- it's all gone up."

Peckman said he likes the Bates County model because it is a revenue source instead of just an expense.

"What I liked about Bates County is they're running it as a business," Peckman said. "They're taking care of themselves."