Fee for cities’ inmates subject of talks
Washington County sheriff, officials to discuss proposal for $31-a-day charge
FAYETTEVILLE — A plan to charge cities a daily fee for holding inmates in the Washington County jail will be discussed today by city and county officials.
Sheriff Tim Helder was directed by the Quorum Court to discuss the proposal with mayors and police chiefs, and report to the justices of the peace.
The Quorum Court has considered setting a daily fee of $31 for each municipal prisoner in the jail. The proposal is on hold after some city officials said they needed more information and time to consider the cost.
The county has contracts with Madison County and the federal government charging $62 a day to hold inmates. The county charges Fayetteville a one-time $62 fee when city officers take a prisoner to the jail. The state pays $30 per day for inmates waiting for space in the Department of Correction.
Harvey Bowman, justice of the peace for District 3, sponsored the proposal. Bowman said the general fund has been used to offset the cost of operating the jail — to the tune of about $1 million a year — and that can’t continue.
“We can’t afford that,” Bowman said. “We’ve been doing it for so many years now and it’s just killing us.”
The county is considering expanding the jail because capacity is routinely exceeded. Helder said laws mandate the segregation of inmates by sex, convicts from accused, those charged with misdemeanors from those charged with felonies, and other requirements. The 710-bed jail is typically considered full with about 640 inmates. He said it’s common for 30 to 40 inmates to be sleeping on the floor because of the lack of space.
As part of the expansion, the county plans to ask voters to approve a 0.25 percent sales tax to pay for jail operation and maintenance. Treasurer Bobby Hill estimated the tax would generate about $10.4 million yearly. If the sales tax is approved, and Bowman’s jail fee proposal were already in effect, the daily fees would be discontinued.
When the idea of a daily fee was raised last year, the sheriff’s office estimated the possible cost to cities with a $62 daily fee based on 2017 records. If the fee were set at $31, the county estimated it would bring in about $700,000 from all of the cities in the county. Fayetteville’s cost would be about $342,000, according to the information from the sheriff’s office. Springdale’s cost would be about $195,000. Other cities would bear costs based on the number of inmates housed at the jail, with the estimates showing Elm Springs’ cost at about $9,500.
Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse and Chief Mike Peters of the Springdale Police Department said they support the jail expansion plan and would prefer that the county focus on that.
“We would ask that they move forward with asking the voters for the sales tax before they consider the fee,” Sprouse said. “The sales tax is the fairest way. Everybody in the county pays equally. Residents of the cities shouldn’t have to pay any more. If the cities pay a fee, then the burden on city residents is greater. Everybody is a county resident, whether they live in the cities or not.”
Peters said the jail expansion and sales tax for maintenance and operations will address more serious problems. Springdale is closing its three-cell city jail when a new city municipal building is built. Peters said the city jail is usually only used as a stopgap, temporary holding facility.
“It’s a revolving door,” he said. “We bring people in who have to be held immediately.”
Benton County charges cities a fee. The Quorum Court in December increased it from $50 to $60 per day. Benton County received $177,500 from the cities and about $1.5 million from the state in 2018, according to Brenda Guenther, county comptroller.