Even in the best economic times, there’s no tougher sell job for local governments than convincing taxpayers to support expenditure of public money on a brand new jail facility. While taxpayers usually will go along with spending from their county’s savings account — or adding to their county’s indebtedness — to build a school, library or a public safety building, few are likely to get behind the idea of building a new facility to house persons accused of crimes. Even when officials are forced to build new jails to avoid overcrowding-related lawsuits, it’s usually only after considering, and ruling out, a host of other less painful options.

Fortunately for public officials in Chowan and Gates counties, there does appear to be another option to building a new facility to replace the overcrowded, 30-year-old Chowan Detention Center in Edenton.

As The Daily Advance reported several weeks ago, public officials from the two counties met recently with officials from Albemarle District Jail and the three counties that pay the jail’s expenses — Pasquotank, Perquimans and Camden — to discuss the possibility of Chowan and Gates joining the tri-county ADJ Commission. As members of the commission, Chowan and Gates likely would pay a pro rata share of the jail’s annual budget, and in exchange, get to house crime suspects and convicted misdemeanants at the year-old ADJ facility in Pasquotank.

While the idea of joining the ADJ Commission seems promising, Chowan and Gates officials have been careful to point out that no direct negotiations to make that happen are currently under way. Chowan, not wanting to “get the cart before the horse” — as Board of Commissioners Chairman Eddy Goodwin said — first wants to do some fact-finding about costs, benefits and drawbacks.

That seems like the right approach — for both Chowan and Gates and the ADJ Commission.

On the surface, Chowan and Gates have a lot to gain by joining the ADJ. New jail facilities, particularly with all of the safety and security features that they now require, are expensive. No one knows this better than the two counties’ potential partners at ADJ. The 248-bed new ADJ, which just opened last year, cost $20 million — more than $1 million more than its original projected cost. Even though any jail facility Chowan is likely to build to replace its current 30-year, 23-bed facility would be smaller than ADJ, it still would have to require those security and safety features and contain enough infrastructure for future expansion, both of which are almost certain to balloon the facility’s final cost. Being able to avoid those brick-and-mortar costs by housing their inmates at ADJ would have to be a financial plus, particularly for Chowan, which is just three summers removed from a near fiscal meltdown, and Gates, which never has had a jail facility of its own but currently pays to use Chowan’s and others in the area.

Chowan and Gates would also benefit from ADJ membership by having use of cells for female inmates. ADJ currently has 40 cells set aside for female prisoners. Chowan’s jail doesn’t have any cells for women inmates; consequently, Chowan and Gates are already having to transport female prisoners to ADJ and other jail facilities in the region. Being ADJ members would at least remove this extra cost for both counties.

At first glance, having Chowan and Gates join the ADJ Commission also seems like the right move for the jail commission. Right now, the jail’s daily census is about 170 inmates, some 70 below the jail’s current capacity of 248. Combined, Chowan and Gates would contribute about 40-some inmates, still fewer than ADJ’s current capacity. Pasquotank Sheriff Randy Cartwright, who until recently served as jail administrator, points out that the jail would have the same fixed costs for personnel, food, health care and utilities with 210 inmates as it currently has for 170. The biggest difference for a jail commission that included Chowan and Gates would be that those costs would be spread across five counties instead of just three.

The biggest drawback for Chowan and Gates joining the ADJ Commission, obviously, is the travel distance, particularly for Chowan. Instead of being able to lock down prisoners in Edenton as they do now, the Chowan Sheriff’s Office and Edenton Police Department would have to have them transported to Pasquotank County. Albemarle District Jail has a transportation unit, so Chowan and Gates sheriff’s deputies wouldn’t be required to physically transport inmates. Their counties, however, likely would have to pay for the travel costs.

But even this might not be as big a problem as it seems. Mark Priest, ADJ’s new administrator, says the jail is equipped with video conferencing technology that allows inmates to “appear” in court for arraignments, bond reduction hearings and other court processes without having to leave the jail. Cartwright says Chowan could also cut its transportation costs by continuing to operate its current jail facility, which isn’t in bad shape, to house inmates immediately arrest their arrest, before their transfer to ADJ. Or, the ADJ Commission could take over operations at the Chowan jail and run it as a satellite facility. Either way, Gates and Chowan would save on transportation costs.

The only potential drawback for ADJ to adding two more counties is that it eventually could limit jail space for inmates from the commission’s three original members. But that, too, doesn’t seem to be a problem any time soon.

All the arguments seem to point toward Chowan and Gates joining the Albemarle District Jail Commission. But like Cartwright, we’d urge Chowan and Gates officials to explore this option fully before making a commitment. Likewise, the ADJ Commission should do the same. The decision both groups make ultimately should be the one that is best for the taxpayers of their individual counties.