Hodges says he didn't know about halfway house plans

State Rep. Monte Hodges contends he didn't know the Rev. Jay Slaughter intended to put a halfway house at 201 W. McHaney when he sold him the property, which is located next to Williams Park.

Reportedly, five of the 10 living in the state-funded halfway house are moderate-risk, Level 2 sex offenders.

On Monday, Hodges said about three years ago, he and his wife, Rhonda, were liquidating some rental properties and entered into a land contract with Slaughter, who has about one year's worth of payments remaining before the property becomes his free and clear.

"He bought it as rental property," Rep. Hodges said. "I don't know when he converted it (to the halfway house). I just want to make it crystal clear that when he bought it, it was bought as rental property."

"I don't want people to be misled to think Rep. Monte Hodges and his wife knew the intentions of the property when it was bought," Hodges added.

Hodges doesn't recall Slaughter mentioning the possibility of a halfway house when it was purchased.

Slaughter told the CN that Hodges wasn't aware at the time, nor did he initially know he would open a halfway house.

"I recognized that the criminal justice system is necessary, but it treats them like second-class citizens," Slaughter said. "When people are second-class citizens, they need to be liberated."

Slaughter sees the halfway house as a ministry and "the next frontier for social justice." The state pays the halfway house $28 per inmate per day and the facility relies strictly on state funding, according to Slaughter.

Would the Hodges' have sold it to Slaughter if they knew it would be a halfway house by the park?

"Would I have sold the property to him? You know, if he's putting a halfway house there and he had bought the property from me, I wouldn't have probably even, if he went through the proper channels like he's supposed to with the Planning Commission and the neighborhood didn't object to it, absolutely I would have sold it to him," Hodges said. "Absolutely."

Hodges, a banker at Southern Bancorp, said land contracts are mortgages, just like traditional home financing from a bank. Once the final payment is made, courthouse records will show Slaughter as the owner; until then, the Hodges names will be listed as owners of the property, just as a bank would be until transfer of ownership.

Rep. Hodges noted there is nothing in the contract preventing a halfway house and Slaughter has made his mortgage payments.

"It's no different than him going through a finance company," Rep. Hodges said. "It wouldn't have been any different than Bank of America. And Bank of America is not going to micromanage a client's loan. Once that loan is signed on the dotted line and it leaves their hands, they're not going to call their client and ask, 'are you housing sex offenders in that property?'"

When did you find out it was a halfway house?

"He (Slaughter) had already did the land contract," Rhonda said. "Actually, he called me because he was looking into needing a nurse and knew I worked at Elmcroft and I'm an RN and he needed an RN to do some assessments or he thought he was going to need some assessments. And I said, 'Oh, what are you thinking about doing?' and he said, 'Rehab housing.'"

Rhonda told Slaughter she would have to see if she had the proper certification, though she never heard back from him on the matter.

Rep. Hodges said those with any issue should take it up with Slaughter, who is buying the property.

"He's complying with the legal requirements of the sales contract, and so I can't say, 'I'm going to evict you,'" Hodges said. "This is part of his ministry. Part of what he does is find real estate that he can buy to transform into halfway houses, if it's approved."

Proponents argue the halfway house allows parolees to transition from prison life to the other side of the bars. They say it allows the individuals to get their lives back on track and become productive members of society.

"Pastor Slaughter, he's a pastor of a church here in the community," Rep. Hodges said. "This is what his background is; his background is in rehabilitation. So kudos for him for finding an avenue to get parolees, when they get out, have a place to be self-sufficient, have their own living quarters."

Rhonda noted Slaughter worked at Mid-South before he branched out on his own.

"I'm not against halfway houses," Rep. Hodges said. "I think they're needed. I think when people get out from being incarcerated, they need a place to call their own, to live and to become productive parts of society and to be self-sufficient."

He pointed out Slaughter went before the Planning Commission and received approval through the proper channels.

"Now I don't know if it specified that sex offenders will be living (there) when they do this, if that notice was done the way it should have been done," Rep. Hodges said. "I don't know the procedures to that, but I do know he went through the Planning Commission and got it approved and there was a public notice that people could have spoken up against not having that halfway house at the park."

Blytheville Planning Commission Chairman Jim McClain said he doesn't remember Slaughter mentioning sex offenders would be living there, nor does he recall anyone asking whether there would be sex offenders at the facility.

McClain's understanding was it would be a drug/alcohol rehab facility. He doesn't recall any opposition during the public hearing.

According to the June 12, 2012, Planning Commission minutes, Slaughter asked for a conditional use permit to establish the halfway house for a program called Equipping Families For Ownership Through Rehabilitation and Training (EFFORT). He told commission members the facility would house up to 10 men who have just been released from prison and there would be a supervisor on site at all times. According to the minutes, among the treatment services are clean, secure housing; assistance with meals; medication management; life skills training; job placement with transportation; case management; inter-agency brokerage and advocacy; pastoral care; and a caring staff.

The Hodges said they understand the concern of a halfway house by the park.

"I could see any parent, any citizen in the community having that concern," Rhonda said. "I guess my question was, was because there was public notice that this was going to be happening, nobody said anything."

Rep. Hodges added: "I don't know if sex offenders was a part of that. But he did go through the proper channels to get it classified or whatever the Planning Commission did to have parolees in that property. I completely understand people's concerns. I'm not insensitive to that at all."

Slaughter said the sex offenders are actually more disciplined than the others because prison has prepared them "to be ostracized and criticized."

He said there have been no major incidents, only a few minor ones like missing curfew.

Slaughter said some must stay in jail simply because they have no place to go, which he calls an injustice.

"We view this as the next frontier of the civil rights movement," Slaughter said. "We intend to be a conduit of change for" those with alcohol and drug issues.

mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com