By Paul Deaton, Solon
I visited the current Johnson County Jail soon after it opened in 1981. I remember saying to myself, “My God! They made it too small!” The current board of supervisors approved a referendum for the November ballot to build a new jail and sheriff’s office. I support it.
Opinions on the current referendum previously published in Little Village stand on the shoulders of institutional changes made after the 2013 referendum won a majority but failed to reach the required 60 percent.
County officials inherited an overcrowded system. After the bond failed, County Attorney Janet Lyness and others helped institutionalize a different way of dealing with defendants with a network of existing jail alternatives, diversion, treatment, expedited release, and mental-health interventions. These practices persist within the county, helping keep Johnson County’s incarceration rate comparatively low.
I remember Janet Lyness describing how the sheriff’s office, county attorney, public defender, courts, jail alternatives and treatment providers looked at the jail population together and asked, case by case, who actually needed a jail bed. We need that granularity today.
I have been fortunate to spend time discussing the proposed jail with elected officials. I am convinced we can build a substantial jail — neither too big nor too small — that meets county needs. Those who recently toured the current jail have seen why it needs replacing. I encourage you to vote yes on issuing general obligation bonds to build a new jail and sheriff’s office.
