Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — July 2, 2025 — Members of the capital bonds improvement task force continued discussions about the location of the upcoming E-911 Real Time Crime Center Tuesday night, with some proposing tearing down the temporarily shut-down Justice Complex and building the center in its place.
In June, the Jonesboro City Council approved a $17.5 million revenue bond ordinance allowing for the funding of various capital improvement projects. One of the planned projects is a new E-911 Center, projected to cost $5,224,300, according to documents presented at Tuesday’s meeting.
During the meeting, some task force members said that with the Justice Complex building closed for repairs, it might be better to tear it down and build the center there, with district court and other services to be in the new building as well. The complex is located at 410 W. Washington Ave.
City of Jonesboro officials announced Friday, June 27, that the need to reinforce a roof rafter was found during routine inspections. Services have been temporarily relocated.
The building has a history of extensive repairs, and task force members said it might be more cost-effective to demolish the building and construct the new E-911 center there. However, they said, that decision would be dependent on repair costs, which are currently unknown.
“As far as Washington, the Justice Complex, I really hate to see us keep throwing good money into a really bad building,” said task force member Joe Hafner. “I rather us, almost, operate as we are right now until we have a final solution of what we’re going to do.”
Two locations are being considered for the E-911 Center: next to the current Jonesboro Police Department, located at 1001 Caraway Road, or on city-owned property on the 400 block of West Washington Avenue.
If the task force decides to build the center next to police headquarters, land will have to be purchased. Currently, the revenue bond ordinance does not allow purchasing property, although Mayor Harold Copenhaver said the city council could consider a special resolution on the revenue bond ordinance to do so.
“We did not authorize that through city council to purchase property, but it would be a special resolution if there was a separate real estate purchase contract similar to any other property purchase,” Copenhaver said.
Task force member Chris Moore said he was concerned about flooding if the center is built on Caraway Road. With the downtown location, he said, the center could be split into smaller projects: an administration building to house police and 911 dispatch and then working a deal with Craighead County government to jointly share another space with district and municipal court.
Moore added that JPD services the public typically does not access, such as the Criminal Investigation Division and the motor pool, would remain at the facility on Caraway Road, while services the public regularly uses, such as filing police reports and visiting with police administration, would be moved downtown.
“We wouldn’t construct a new courtroom and court facilities over there on our property, and the advantage of that is, of course, is that we would eliminate the one building but we also won’t need 8,900 square feet of building,” Moore said. “We’ll need something much smaller, and the cost should reflect that.”
Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott opposed the downtown location, saying the proposed Washington Avenue facility would fragment the department. Elliott has previously spoken in support of putting the E-911 Center on Caraway Road.
“The problem is, we’re fragmented as a police department. So now, I’m going to take patrol from down here on Washington and move it on Caraway, I’ll take admin on Caraway and move it to Washington. My goal is to get everything under one roof to be more functional as a police department,” Elliott said. “I think for a police department, better access control on Caraway, room for growth on Caraway. We’re landlocked down here [downtown.]”
If the Justice Complex was torn down, where various court services are permanently located would have to be determined as well, task force members said.
The task force’s members consist of Hafner, Moore, John Street and Chris Gibson. Members said until they had more information on Justice Complex repair costs and flooding mitigation for the properties, it would not make a decision on a final location. When that information is received, task force chair Brian Emison said, the members would reconvene.
To watch the full meeting, click here.