Donald Dixon shows the fallacy of the idea of building a new jail | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    At the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners' meeting Monday (3-10-14) night candidate for Beaufort County Sheriff Donald Dixon made a presentation that contained some rather amazing information. He reported on research he has done on the availability of jail space in Eastern North Carolina. In so doing he arguably abolished the major contention of proponents of building a new jail.

    Mr. Dixon documented two things: 1. Basing a new jail on the premise that the vacant beds could be leased out to other counties is a false assumption and 2. It would be less expensive to contract out the custody of Beaufort's inmates than to build a new jail, considering the cost of operating a new facility.

    You can hear his comments in the video clip below:



    Dixon has, on previous occasions, promised the Board that if he is elected Sheriff that he "...could make the existing jail work..." It would appear that in this presentation he shows how he could do just that.

    You will note that he also points out that "the problems" proponents of building a new jail base their conclusion, that a new jail is needed now, are false. He contends that those things they say are so bad that a new jail must be built are actually the result of poor management - case load management and facility maintenance.

    Commentary

    We commend Mr. Dixon on doing his homework. In doing so he may indeed have saved the county taxpayers millions of wasted dollars. His contention that as Sheriff he could make the existing jail work is one that the Board should give serious consideration of and we believe the voters should consider when they elect a Sheriff.

    If any excess jail population, above the effective capacity of the current facility, can be contracted out to Pitt County, which is 18 miles away - or ten additional minutes further than where they propose to build the new jail - then clearly "overcrowding" cannot rationally be presumed to be a justification for spending 20-30 million to construct a new jail and an additional four million to operate it. Clearly it would be less expensive to us contracting as a way to address any overcrowding.

    And if Mr. Dixon is correct that the condition of the current facility is a matter of good management then perhaps he should be given an opportunity by the voters to show what he can do, at least before spending all that money now on a new facility.

    We are impressed. We commend Mr. Dixon on his work.