To the editor:

Important points about the Douglas County Jail:

1. The Douglas County Jail is extremely overcrowded.

2. The crime rates in Kansas and Douglas County are going up, especially due to the increased population.

3. The jail is experiencing greater instances of violent problems within the jail because of overcrowding.

4. The County Commission will be forced to expand the jail in a piecemeal manner if the proposition fails, delaying a solution and costing taxpayers thousands of dollars more than proposed currently.

5. There is no indication of mass incarceration in Lawrence or Douglas County as our rate of crime is not approaching other cities and counties in the area or nation.

6. The recent new proposals do not deal at all with jail expansion, which will force the hand of the commission to handle the overcrowding in ways that are not fiscally sound.

7. Our law-enforcement are not able to accomplish programs to help inmates rehabilitate because of the overcrowding conditions.

8. Overcrowding in the women’s section is particularly bad.

These points dramatically demonstrate the need for a yes vote on jail expansion. Safety, financial wisdom, and common sense should steer voters to approve the jail expansion.