Subject: Re: [BoundaryPoint] Re: Boundaries through urban areas<br/>
Date: Nov 06, 2003 @ 06:23<br/>
Author: Lowell G. McManus (&quot;Lowell G. McManus&quot; &lt;mcmanus71496@...&gt;)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-1512248088">Mike wrote:<br/>
<br/>
<blockquote><span title="ireply"> &gt; also<br/>
&gt; if you know texarkana<br/>
&gt; can you confirm whether there is really a bistate correctional<br/>
&gt; condominium there too<br/>
&gt;<br/>
&gt; as i understand it<br/>
&gt; there may be a legal area in a jailhouse where both states have<br/>
&gt; jurisdiction without but rights of extradition<br/>
&gt;<br/>
&gt; is this for real<br/>
&gt;<br/>
&gt; if so it would be the only legal bistate condo in the usa<br/>
<br/>
 </span></blockquote>There are two courthouses athwart the state boundary in Texarkana.  One is the<br/>
famous US Post Office and Federal Courthouse.  The state boundary presents no<br/>
jurisdictional problems for the feds.  The second one is quite a different<br/>
story.<br/>
<br/>
Yes, it is something of a condominium, under the provisions of the Bi-state<br/>
Criminal Justice Center Compact ( <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://tinyurl.com/tush">http://tinyurl.com/tush</a> ).  [Wow!  I knew I&#39;d<br/>
eventually get a TinyURL code that spelled something.]  Note that each state<br/>
&quot;relinquishes exclusive jurisdiction&quot; and that they &quot;recognize the existence of<br/>
concurrent jurisdiction&quot; within the building.<br/>
<br/>
The building originated circa 1980.  It is jointly owned by the County of Miller<br/>
(Arkansas), the County of Bowie (Texas), the City of Texarkana (Arkansas), and<br/>
the City of Texarkana (Texas).  The physical plant, the joint dispatching<br/>
center, and the joint records management center are operated by an organ called<br/>
the Law Enforcement Advisory Committee, which is composed of the two county<br/>
sheriffs and the two city chiefs of police.  The LEAC has no employees, but<br/>
assigns joint law enforcement duties to employees of the respective police and<br/>
sheriff agencies.  The LEAC contracts with the City of Texarkana (Arkansas) to<br/>
provide building custodial and maintenance staff, etc.<br/>
<br/>
All of the jurisdictional niceties are meticulously spelled out in the Texas<br/>
Local Government Code, 361.021-361.029 ( <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://tinyurl.com/tuuk">http://tinyurl.com/tuuk</a> ).  The law of<br/>
Texas requires that its courts be held in Texas, but that is the only function<br/>
limited to one portion of the building.  Arkansas courts may be held anywhere in<br/>
the building.  General police, prosecutorial, and detentional functions of each<br/>
state can operate anywhere in the building, and offices of the respective<br/>
agencies are freely intermixed throughout, without regard to the boundary.<br/>
There are no markings of the boundary within the building, which sits on the<br/>
diagonal to the boundary.<br/>
<br/>
If you walk into the building, you and your property are under the joint<br/>
jurisdiction of both states, and you must obey the laws of both.  If this is<br/>
impossible due to a conflict in laws, you may choose the state to have<br/>
jurisdiction over you.  If you are a prisoner of one of the states or are<br/>
summoned by one of them, you are under that state&#39;s exclusive jurisdiction and<br/>
are exempt from arrest or service of process by the other while in the building.<br/>
Either state may interrogate suspects, receive confessions, and make arrests<br/>
anywhere in the building, and no extradition is required unless the subject was<br/>
already a prisoner in the custody of the other state (and therefore under its<br/>
exclusive jurisdiction).<br/>
<br/>
I was in the building once on the day of a Texas election, and I observed a<br/>
voting box in operation.  It was actually in Texas, although most voters were<br/>
entering the building&#39;s spacious lobby through a nearby Arkansas door.  That<br/>
entrance and all of the others bore legal notices of the election as required by<br/>
Texas law for buildings containing voting boxes.<br/>
<br/>
This is indeed intriguing stuff for the political geographer!<br/>
<br/>
Lowell G. McManus<br/>
Leesville, Louisiana, USA</div>