Just after the first of the year, the three Monroe County commissioners made a trip to Arizona to have a look at jail facilities there.

The trip came in connection with the work of the community justice response committee (CJRC), which is the group the commissioners established to address the work of two consultants, which was released to the county government about 20 months ago.

The report described Monroe County’s jail as having “far exceeded its structural and functional life cycle” and pointed to a failure of the current jail to meet Constitutional standards of care.

At the CJRC’s first meeting this year, just after the Arizona field trip, other committee members voiced their dissatisfaction with the lack of a heads-up given about their trip by the commissioners. One source of complaint: Had other members of the committee known, they might have been able to send along specific questions to be asked.

Commissioners told other committee members they would report out on what they’d seen in Arizona. The contentious character of the next few committee meetings meant that the report on the Arizona trip did not get addressed until this Monday.

County councilor Jennifer Crossley is a member of the CJRC. As Crossley put it at Monday’s committee meeting, “This has been like the moment we’ve all been waiting for…”

Commissioners Penny Githens, Julie Thomas, and Lee Jones described three facilities they toured in Arizona—one in Maricopa County, another in Yavapai County, and a third one in Pima County. Continue reading “Community justice notebook: Committee hears site visit reports, vote likely this week on jail architect” →