Kelly & Erek Sittig

We’re long-time residents of North Liberty, and we’re voting “no” on the Johnson County jail bond. Human dignity and lack of input from the community drive our decision. 

Johnson County prides itself on care, compassion, and justice for all. The proposed new jail and the bond proposal to fund it do not reflect that care. It’s true that the current jail needs renovations, but this proposal does not meaningfully improve quality of life for incarcerated individuals, who would have less space than legally required for -- and given to -- some animals. And ultimately, incarceration is not a humanitarian way of dealing with all crime. We should invest in the social drivers that prevent incarceration, rather than in downstream fixes that merely compensate for our failure to uphold human dignity.  

And we should have the opportunity to tell the Board of Supervisors how we would like to spend $124.7 million. Is a new jail, designed to enhance the benefits to law enforcement staff, rather than address conditions of those held in custody, what we would have chosen? Do Johnson County residents want to foot the bill for this specific jail? Is it a financially sound proposal? Were experts in avoiding incarceration and upstream interventions consulted to design the best and most humanitarian proposal possible? We deserve the opportunity to ask these questions and guide the County in plans that uphold our values. 

An investment of about $124 million that Johnson County residents will pay for, should be built on resident and expert input. And it should uphold our values of treating all people with care and respect. This new jail initiative will not do that.