Benton Courier - Work on sheriff's offices begins

Workers with Smith-Doyle Contractors Inc. are busy constructing administrative offices for the Saline County Sheriff’s Office. The new offices will be located in front of the detention center on Neeley Street and are expected to be occupied on Nov. 1.

The slab for the 8,000-square-foot building was poured last Friday on the property in front of the detention center on Neeley Street.
The current sheriff’s administrative offices are on Main Street across from Harvest Foods. The sheriff’s Criminal Investigation Division also will move to the new site at the jail. CID is located on Edison Avenue in the District Court building.
“It’s important to move all the county law enforcement in one place,” County Judge Lanny Fite said. One of his jobs is to oversee county-operated buildings.
Having the slab poured “was the No. 1 priority, and now, weather permitting, we shouldn’t have any problems with construction,” Fite said.
The $1.4 million project is being managed by Brooks Montgomery with Smith-Doyle Contractors Inc.
Fite said the steel work should be completed in about two-four weeks.
The new offices are expected to be ready for occupancy on Nov. 1, Fite said. And the Sheriff’s Department is looking forward to the move.
CID Lt. Mike Frost said he’s ready for the transition. “It’s going to make it where we have more room, and we’ll have everything right there together,” he said. “We’ll be very excited to get over there.”
The jail staff also won’t mind having their department counterparts nearby.
Sgt. Ray Pennington said being in one location will make for smoother operation within the Sheriff’s Department. “The whole Sheriff’s Department will be together, so that will make communication a lot easier and simpler,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the completion.”
The entrance temporarily has moved to make way for construction, but Pennington said that so far construction has not interfered with jail operations.
Fite said the project costs appear to be about $3,000 under projections.
Helping fund the construction is the $5 charged per ticket in the county and the sales tax surplus. The 3/8-cent temporary sales tax to construct the jail expired last year, but not every merchant discontinued it at the same time, which caused a surplus, Fite said.
Half of the $5 charge goes toward supplementing jail operations, Fite said, noting that the other half goes toward expansion. “It’s not near enough to expand in the future, but it’s seed money.”
Fite added that there is room to expand at the jail site.
Sheriff Phil Mask will occupy the new space for only two months. His term expires Jan. 1, 2009, and he is not seeking re-election. He’s looking forward to those two months with his staff under one roof, however.
“Everyone is excited about it,” Mask said. “We had as many as four or five officers at different locations ... now everyone will be under one roof.
“I also have to deal with people inside the jail on a regular basis, so it will help out in that area as well. I think it makes everyone more accountable, too.”
Having everyone together will make operations “more convenient, accessible and more controlable for the sheriff,” Mask added. “It is going to be a great asset for whoever comes in as the new sheriff.”
Candidates for sheriff include Republicans James Ward, a businessman, and Tim Dudderar, a sheriff’s patrol sergeant; Democrat Bruce Pennington, also a sheriff’s patrol sergeant; and independent Gordon Hall, who works in transportation for the Little Rock School District.

— Courier reporter Matt Burks contributed to this report.

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