Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City Waiting On Census Before Redistricting Wards

Redistricting voting wards in Prescott will soon be done.

Jim Von Tunglin, with the Arkansas Municipal League, told the Prescott City Council, at its regular monthly meeting Monday, June 19, the city had no choice but to redistrict. But, the city can choose when this will be done.

The council agreed to wait until the city receives new population data based on the recent census count.

Tunglin said this is no problem, as other cities do it as well. But, the wards, when redrawn will have to set them up based on the equalization of population within each ward. This means each ward would have to have approximately the same number population.

There is no set method for doing the redistricting, he said. Some cities do theirs based on registered voters, while others set their wards up by population. The problem, he added, could be if the city tried to redraw the boundaries along the lines of racial parity.

This is the most difficult method because of how and where people live.

Tunglin told the council it needed to pick a method the AML could defend should the redistricting be challenged in court.

The best way to gather the data required, he said, is to literally go door-to-door, but it's also the most impractical.

To get the block information needed, he continued, actual houses could be counted. This shouldn't take long and there is a fairly standard formula proven to be accurate which could be used to base the population count on a per capita basis.

The idea, he said, is not to gerrymander the boundary lines and confuse people as to which district or ward they reside in.

He suggested forming a committee and having it determine the city's goals before anything is done in this area.

The council was informed cities tend to grow in one direction, mostly toward the west. Why this is Tunglin couldn't explain, but this is what the trends are, he said.

Because of this, the western area of the city needs to be left open so all wards will pick up some population.

Currently, Ward 4 is the largest in terms of land mass, though one of the smallest based on houses within its borders. Much of this area was annexed about five years ago, and there has been no housing development since then, with none planned in the foreseeable future.

Cities, he said, must have at least four wards, no less.

Councilman Dick Bright said the city may need to hire someone from the outside to redraw the boundary lines, as the city couldn't do this itself.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the city will wait until the census information is available before taking any action on the matter.

Tunglin said this is a good idea, a the data from this census should be better than it was 10 years ago. The census takers are being more careful in doing their job.

From there Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, told of a second public meeting planned by the students from the University of Arkansas concerning plans for downtown Prescott.

This meeting, he said, will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 29, at the Nevada County Courthouse.

The presentation will include what the city could look like if the proposals made are followed.

Chadwell had some good news, saying the EDO is currently working with six industrial prospects at this time, along with several retail prospects interested in locating in Prescott and Nevada County.

Decisions on the prospects could be made in the near future, he said, as information is being gathered about them at this time.

The Leadership Nevada County project is coming along, he said, with a grant being written to fund it.

Should the grant be approved, the first sessions would be held in September or October.

Chadwell told about the prospect of a privately owned prison in Nevada County.

He said company officials from Louisiana approached Prescott about the possibility after reading how the Arkansas Department of Corrections has twice put the city in second place for prospective prisons.

However, private prisons are currently not allowed in Arkansas, as the state handles the prison population. Because of this, company officials are working with the legislature to have laws passed allowing the creation of private prisons.Should it be successful, Chadwell said, it would build a 400-bed facility on 20 to 25 acres of land. The city and county would have access to 15 beds at no cost and another 15 beds at $30 per head.

According to Chadwell, this would save the county between $20,000 and $30,000 a year.

In fact, he said, if the prison is built, a separate pod will be added strictly for Prescott and Nevada County inmates.

While a prison isn't a targeted industry, Chadwell said, it is attractive as a prospect as it will solve some major problems in the community.

One of these problems is alleviating the worry about having to build a new jail in the county. Chadwell told the council it's only a matter of time before the current Nevada County jail is condemned and a new one will have to be built.

Construction of a new detention center would require the passage of a tax on county residents to get it built and keep it operating.

The private prison, he said, wouldn't infringe upon the interlocal agreement the city and county has concerning dispatching.

In fact, he continued, if the private prison is built, it will end city and county officers having to transport inmates to the Arkansas Department of Corrections in Pine Bluff. The company, he said, would handle all prisoner transportation.

When the company sent the county a contract, Chadwell said, officials didn't like all the language in it. Changes were made, with the company agreeing to all of them. A modified contract should be ready by the July meeting of the Nevada County Quorum Court.

In the meantime, the justices of the peace will be talking with their constituents about the prison prospect.

According to Chadwell, along with the land, the company is asking for the city and county to provide utility connections, including water and sewer.

Those inmates housed in the prison, he said, would be minimum inmates, or prisoners with less than five years left on their sentence.

The company would also provide 60-65 jobs should the prison be built.

"They're serious about this business," he said of the company. "They've been in Louisiana six or seven years and helped open the private prison market there."

Before this, he said, Louisiana had the same policy Arkansas has about private prisons  none were allowed.

However, the Louisiana Legislature passed a law requiring all convicted to serve a minimum of 80 percent of their sentence. This caused a massive swelling in the prison population.

At this time, Arkansas has more prisoners than prison beds available, and recently sent 500 to Texas. With a private prison, Chadwell said, this money would remain in the state.

If the company gets the approval from the state and DoC, he said, the prison could be up and running within a year. This is because the company also has a construction venture, as well as running prisons.

The contract between the company and DoC would be for 20 years, Chadwell told the panel. The county's deal would also be for 20 years, then all involved would have to renegotiate.

In addition to housing prisoners, he said, the company has active Alcoholic's Anonymous and drug rehabilitation groups for the inmates to participate in.

Convicts would be able to earn outside time based on their following the rules and regulations set forth by the company. The more points they earn, the more freedom they have in being outside.

Level 4, Chadwell said, virtually allows them to come and go as they please, within the prison walls. Breaking the rules, though, means they get sent to lower levels and must work their way back.

Maria and Jorge Villegas gave an update on the progress of the mural. Weather conditions have slowed work down as the paint must be able to dry and not run.

The basic design has already been drawn on the wall, with the colors yet to be added.

Maria said they mix the colors themselves, start at the top of the mural and work their way down. In fact, they will prepare 80 to 150 colors for the project.

"You will have a wonderful wall," they told the council, "something to be proud of."

Taylor concluded the meeting by telling the council work on the new Senior Adult Center has bogged down because of the rain. At this time, construction is about a month behind schedule.

Inclement weather has also put the Rip Griffin Truck and Travel Center project about three months behind schedule, he said.