Springfield-area news outlets were invited to a press conference Thursday to talk about the new temporary jail facility, but thenGreene County Sheriff Jim Arnott challenged reporters to ask him anything.
And the sheriff was ready with answers.
During the nearly hourlong eventin the department's conference room, Arnott spoke about everything fromthe Missouri auditor's request to investigate Greene County, tothe firing of his second in command, the county budget, emails and what he sees as "tabloid journalism" in Springfield.
"Any questions?" Arnott asked about 20 minutes into his press conference. "I'll take anything. Conspiracy theories. I'll talk about the auditor. I don't care. If you want to ask me, ask me now."
State Auditor Nicole Gallowayis looking into whether Greene County misused public resources to advocate for the 1/2-cent sales tax that voterspassed in November.
A portion of the revenue from the taxwill be dedicated to a jail expansion project.
When a reporter asked Arnott about the allegations involving the auditor,the sheriff pulled down a projector screen and begana prepared presentation.
"Fire up the PowerPoint," he said. "Let's talk about some things."
Arnott showed an email that he says was sent to his attorney by the auditor's officedetailing the allegations against the sheriff's office.
Arnott then went through the evidence piece by piece to refute it.
Afterward, Arnott accused Galloway of seeking publicity and not doing her job.
The News-Leader reached out to Galloway's office after the press conference. Her press secretary saidthe auditor's officehas more information regarding the sheriff's office than what Arnott described Thursday, but that information can't be disclosed because of state law protecting whistleblowers.
The first piece of evidence Arnott described Thursday was a Septemberemail (reported on by the News-Leader) in whichGreene County Commissioner Bob Cirtin informed Arnott and several county employees about his plan for the upcoming tax issue.
In the email, Cirtin wrote that having a meeting with two or more commissioners present would be a bad idea because local news outlets would be able to attend and the county would not want its "sausage making" in the News-Leader.
While lawyers interviewed by the News-Leader saw the email as the commissioner attempting to skirt the Sunshine Law, Arnott said Thursday he sees the email as the commissioner complying with the Sunshine Law.
Arnott said he often has to inconveniently hold separate meetings with differentcommissioners so that he does not violate Missouri's open meetings laws.
As for the campaign meetings referenced in Cirtin's September email, Arnott said they never actually happened —or at least he wasn't there.
Arnott also said he did not view it as a big deal that Cirtin would want a tax meeting to be held in private. He compared it to the Kansas City Chiefs not inviting reporters into their locker room as they planned strategy for a big game.
Unlike the county commission and sheriff’s office, the Kansas City Chiefs are not a government agency subject to the Sunshine Law.
The next piece of evidence was a post on social media in whichthe sheriff's office invited the public to take a tour of the Greene County Jail a couple of weeks before Election Day.
Arnott said that was for educational purposes, not to advocate for the tax.
Arnott pointed out that the sheriff's office has given at least 29 jail tours over the past two years.
Another piece of evidence was a post Arnott made on his Facebook page on Election Dayasking people to vote in favor of the tax. He said he was legally allowed to do that.
"That is legal," Arnott said."There is nothing illegal about me posting on my Facebook page, ‘Come vote for a tax.’Nothing."
Next up was a brochure the county prepared, and the sheriff's office helped pay for, about the tax issue.
Arnott said the brochure was educational and did not advocate for passing the tax.
Another Facebook post was the next piece of evidence. In this post, the sheriff's office asked, "WHO DO YOU WANT US TO RELEASE?" from the jail.
Arnott said the purpose of that post was to dispute the idea that most inmates are in the Greene County Jail on misdemeanor drug charges, and not to advocate for the passage of the tax.
After going through the evidence against him,Arnott then criticized Galloway, saying she is not doing her job in Jefferson City.
As the News-Leader reported last month, the state of Missouri owes about $19.3 million to more than 100 counties —including close to $1.8 million to Greene County — for holding state prisoners.
Arnott said Galloway should focus on getting that money distributed instead of intervening in Greene County, where county auditor Cindy Stein already keeps a close watch on expenditures.
"How about spending your time in Jeff City making sure we get our money locally?" Arnott asked. "$1.8 million. It's ridiculous."
Galloway's office sent the News-Leader a statement on Thursday afternoon.
"These sorts of remarks by the sheriff are exactly why a thorough, independent audit into these allegations is necessary and appropriate," the statement said.
The sheriff's next topic of discussion during the press conference was last month's firing of Maj. Kevin Spaulding, who ran the Greene County Jail.
When the News-Leader reported on the firing last week, Arnott declined to talk about the reasoning, but he was more forthcoming on Thursday.
Arnott said Spaulding was fired for a policy violation that had nothing to do with the auditor situation or the temporary jail.
"He's a friend of mine, still is," Arnott said. "I talked to him last night. He just can't work for us. There was a policy violation."
Arnott did not elaborate on the policy violation.
Arnott said he was offended by the News-Leader's reporting of the second-in-commandin the sheriff's office being fired, and he did not approve of a reporter knocking on Spaulding's door in an attempt to speak with Spaudling.
"That's what I call tabloid journalism," Arnott said. "And yeah, you can quote me on it, because I'm sure it will be in the News-Leader tomorrow."
As for the temporary jail, Arnott said operations started there Wednesday.
As of Thursday morning, Arnott said, there were 108 inmates being held in the temporary building — constructed from a series of semi-trailers that have been outfitted with sleeping bunks and other features — that sits outside the justice center.
That 108 number is the trailer jail's capacity.
Arnott said the sheriff's office hasthe minimum staffing to be able to use the temporary jail, but he anticipates the department will be fully staffed with corrections officers by mid-January.
Since the department is stretched so thin until mid-January, however, Arnott said vacation requests by corrections officers would be "highly scrutinized" over the holidays.
"It's not ideal," Arnott said. "Everybody wants to take off for the holidays, just like your work, so we struggle with having to potentially deny people from time off, which creates another problem.But we are doing the best we can. We feel like this is a workable solution to get us two weeks down the road."
Arnott said the sheriff's office also has to cut back on some operations it normally conducts at the jail, but he declined to give specifics due to safety concerns.
Arnott pointed to the recently approved pay increase for sheriff's office employees as a big reason he has been able to hire the necessary corrections officers to staff the main jail and the temporary jail.
The county approved pay increases for deputies on Dec. 14, and Arnott said applications to the sheriff's office increased by more than 100 percent.
The temporary jail was complete but sat empty for about a month before inmates moved in this week.
Arnott said staffing prevented him from opening the temporary jail sooner.
Arnott said there were rumors and "accusations in the media" that he held off on opening the temporary jail until the pay increases were approved, but he disputed that Thursday.
He said the pay restructuring for the sheriff's office was in the bottom third of pay increases for county departments.
"If that was my plan, you'd think I would be at No. 1," Arnott said.
The county is paying companyAll Detainment Solutions about $2,392 a day to lease the temporary jail.
Arnott said it was not ideal to pay for the jail while it sat empty, but he saidThursday that as of Dec. 19, the sheriff's office was more than $500,000 under budget for jail operations this year.
There were 740 inmates in Greene County's custody on Thursday, Arnott said, and 30 of those inmates were being held in other counties.
Arnott offered a prediction, however, at Thursday's press conference. He said that he thinks five months from now, judges will be sending more people to jail and the county will once again be holding 100 inmates at out-of-county facilities.
"Sorry, but that's just how it is going to be," Arnott said.
Arnott gave reporters a tour of the temporary jail after the press conference.
An inmate, Patrick Field, said he preferred being in the temporary jail.
"It's a little bit better," Field said, while standing next to the sheriff. "It's better than being in the (main jail complex.)"
Field said the mattresses are more comfortable in the temporary jail.
