In the March 17th Primary Election in Illinois, Warren County residents will elect a new sheriff.
Hear from the four candidates below, where talking order was blind drawn before the live event: Jason Horner, AJ Cox, Steve Thompson, and Jack Baskett.
Primary election day is Tuesday, March 17, which means early voting officially closes when the courthouse shuts down at 5 p.m. on Monday. Voting will resume on Primary Election Day, March 17. Check your local polling location to cast your vote between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
One race appearing on the Republican primary ballot is the Warren County Sheriff race, which features four candidates: Steve Thompson, Jack Baskett, Jason Horner and A.J. Cox.
With the new Warren County Jail currently under construction, this race carries added importance. Here is candidate Steve Thompson sharing his thoughts on housing out-of-county detainees.
“I believe it’s not a problem to house for the adjacent counties. However, I don’t want to see us house people from around Cook County and things like that. I would strictly like to keep it just the adjacent counties.
Unfortunately, I feel that as proposed right now the county jail is being built too large. I would’ve liked to have seen a smaller jail.
I believe if you did bring in people from Cook County, some of these bigger counties, they are not going to be sending us their best prisoners. They are going to send us their problems, and unfortunately that’s also going to cause further injuries and issues for our staff. We’re going to have to have them trained to handle these much worse prisoners.”
Here is candidate Jack Baskett sharing his thoughts on housing out-of-county detainees.
“I disagree with housing inmates outside our region. Right now, with the way the jail is proposed, it’s a 60-bed facility with five holding cells.
For the 2027 budget, we’re going to have to add six COs at a cost of $236,400 next year. In the 2028 budget, we’ll have to hire three more at a cost of $118,200, which brings a grand total of $354,600 just in costs.
I don’t believe there’s been enough research. I don’t believe people have talked to the United States Marshal Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons about how housing a federal inmate is different than housing a state inmate.
It takes two correctional officers for an FBOP [Federal Bureau of Prisons] prisoner. I know that talking with Knox County, Mercer County and Woodford County, they have nothing but problems with those types of inmates.
I’ve talked to some others that say you don’t build a confinement center to make it a cash cow.”
Candidate Jason Horner shares his opinion on housing out-of-county detainees.
“The jail currently that’s proposed is a 60-bed facility. Don’t get hung up on the number of 60 beds. A lot of it is for the square footage needed to do classifications and separation of the inmates.
As far as housing Cook County type inmates, absolutely not. That’s a really bad idea. If you really want to know some of the costs and headaches that come out of that, you can talk to Knox County. They have nothing but problems with their Cook County inmates.
Adjacent Henderson County, I think we’ve already got a contract in place with them, and that probably will remain.”
Candidate A.J. Cox shares his thoughts on housing out-of-county detainees.
“I’m a person that goes with the whole ‘never say never.’ I don’t know what the future will entail. Maybe things will get better, maybe a little bit worse. You just don’t know.
As far as doing something with local agencies, I’m absolutely all for that. They have already helped us in many situations. But right off the bat, when you start talking about federal inmates, Cook County inmates, and things like that, as they say, the juice is not worth the squeeze.
But like I said, I will never say never on the matter, because maybe something will change and it could benefit us more. But as of right now, there are rules and regulations that would have to increase manpower and things like that. So as of right now, I would say I’m not for it.”
There is still time to vote early at the courthouse tomorrow until 5 p.m. Otherwise, check your local polling location for the Primary Election on Tuesday, March 17, voting will take place from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
