Officials in Newton County hope to put an as-yet-undetermined sales tax increase on the November ballot to help finance construction of a new jail.
The Arkansas Criminal Detention Facility Review Committee said last month that a survey of the county’s 104-year-old jail found it was overcrowded and did not meet safety standards.
The facility in Jasper was built for a maximum of 16 prisoners but sometimes holds more than 30.
Officials said they have no estimate of what a new jail would cost or how much of a tax increase would be needed to fund the replacement, but are working to develop a proposal for the November general election.
