Build it
“No one in America should have to work in a place like this. As an infantryman in Vietnam, I was in places better than this.”
Those were the comments of Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers during a recent tour of the Fayette County Prison. Robert was on the tour in support of the prison guards, whom the UMW represents. Citing a lengthy number of safety and health concerns at the 127-year-old prison, Roberts and other UMW officials contend it needs to be replaced with a new, modern facility.
Also joining Roberts and UMW officials on the tour were a number of newly-elected county officials, including Dave Lohr, who won one of the three spots for county commissioner in last month’s elections.
Lohr was direct and clear in his support for a new prison. “As long as I have that second vote, we’re going to be shoveling dirt,” he said.
Lohr added that he wants to form a committee comprised of various department representatives and others to review the already-completed studies and then implement a plan that can be carried out. Lohr said he hopes to come up with a plan that all county officials, including row officials and judges, can support.
We agree with Lohr, as we’ve been writing about the need for a new prison since June of 2013. The UMW officials are correct in saying that the prison poses a number of health problems, not just for the inmates but for the people who work there as well. Antiquated and overcrowded, it needs to be replaced. As we said back then, there can and should be a lot of debate about how much the new prison should cost and where it should be built, but there should be no dispute that a new prison is needed.
However, the prison project has been bogged down in all sorts of controversies and missteps, and we’re no further along the road to a new prison, than we were back then.
Now it will up to the new board of commissioners, including Lohr, Angela Zimmerlink and Vince Vicites to decide if Fayette County will get a new prison or not.
Zimmerlink has strongly opposed a new prison, claiming the county doesn’t have the money for it and also questioning if there’s really a need for a new facility. It seems there’s little likelihood of Zimmerlink changing her mind at this point.
So, this decision will probably come down to Vicites, who said during pre-election debates that he wanted to study the issue fully so he could make an informed decision on the matter.
That’s prudent. Once he looks at all the facts, though, Vicites should join Lohr and proceed with plans to build a new prison. It simply makes no sense to try and remodel the prison. A new, modern facility is the only way to go.
It will be important for the commissioners to move ahead with the project quickly after taking office in January. Time is of the essence. The longer the county waits to build a new lockup, the more likely major problems will develop with the structural deficiencies at the current prison. That could end up costing county taxpayers thousands of dollars.
Important decisions will still have to be made about the design of the new jail, finding a location for it, and, most importantly determining how county taxpayers will pay for it. The process will have to be transparent with the public being kept in the loop all the way through the project. Nothing should be decided behind closed doors.
This will all take time, but the commissioners can’t allow this project to get bogged down again. They must move forward.
A new prison must be built, the sooner the better.