Insight needed in jail decision

I have been a minister for 30 years. The most difficult year in my ministry was 2007 when I worked as the chaplain at Airway Heights Correctional Center. I discovered that at least half of these men are mentally ill.

Warehousing mentally ill people is not particularly therapeutic. An inordinately high percentage of inmates had committed nonviolent crimes. Only a small percentage had committed violent crimes.

There is one county commissioner who understands the complexity of our correctional systems and the appropriate ways to move forward with our county prison system. Commissioner Bonnie Mager is the only commissioner who is fully aware of the sentencing alternatives that need to be utilized in our search to find effective and affordable offender management.

People who commit nonviolent crimes should not be treated like those who commit violent crimes. Drug court and electronic monitoring have proven to be effective alternatives to incarceration. It is ridiculous to be spending $27,000 a year to incarcerate nonviolent offenders in a time when we can’t afford the police officers and firefighters who provide our basic safety.

Vote for Bonnie Mager. At least one of our county commissioners gets it when it comes to managing our prison system.

Rev. Ron Baer

Cheney