After much discussion, the Pulaski County Quorum Court gave preliminary approval Tuesday night to enter in to agreements with three of the county's five biggest cities to fund the county jail.
The two other cities have yet to approve an agreement with the county.
The Quorum Court voted 11-0 to move the motion to its Aug. 24 agenda for final approval, which would allow County Judge Buddy Villines to sign contracts with North Little Rock, Sherwood and Maumelle to fund the jail for the next five years beginning Jan. 1.
District 5 Justice of the Peace Lillie McMullen, D-Little Rock, District 9 Justice of the Peace Wilma Walker, D-College Station, District 10 Justice of the Peace Robert Green, D-McAlmont, and District 11's Bob Johnson, D-Jacksonville, were absent for the vote. McMullen arrived at the meeting after the vote took place.
The North Little Rock, Sherwood and Maumelle city councils have approved contracts with Pulaski County worth just under $1 million next year. The cities would pay 5 percent more next year -- $37,988 for North Little Rock, $6,352 for Sherwood, and $2,440 Maumelle. The allocations would be subject to an annual consumer price index adjustment not to exceed 3 percent for the four years after that.
Little Rock and Jacksonville have not yet approved contracts, citing dissatisfaction with the base amounts each city has been asked to pay.
District 12 Justice of the Peace Karilyn Brown, R-Sherwood, and a Jacksonville native, initially said she would not vote for Tuesday night's measure because she agreed with Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher, who told the Quorum Court last month that his city was paying too much for the jail in comparison to Sherwood, which is of similar size.
Jacksonville paid $191,496 this year for the jail, and Sherwood, which has a slightly larger population, paid $127,047.
Brown suggested the county lower what it's asking Jacksonville to pay to what it's asking Sherwood to pay.
"I think all of us have sympathy for Mayor Fletcher," Villines said.
But, he added, the county would have to offset decreased payments from Sherwood with cuts to its own budget, such as cutting two sheriff's deputies.
"We can't afford to lose two deputies," he said.
The amount each city paid under the 20-year-old funding contract that expired Aug. 1 was based on how much each city was paying to operate its own jail in 1990 before deciding to change the system in 1994.
The cities, until Aug. 1, were bound to a 20-year, $2.9 million contract to fund the $25 million county jail operation.
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola has said he's disappointed that the cities pay different rates for inmates held at the jail. He has said Little Rock, which paid nearly $1.8 million per year under the old agreement, is charged more than $200 per inmate versus less than $60 for Sherwood.
District 13 Justice of the Peace Phil Stowers, R-Maumelle, and District 15 Justice of the Peace Shane Stacks, R-North Little Rock, both said Tuesday night that they were not inclined to hold up the contract process, citing the amount of time officials have had to discuss the issue.
Cities with law enforcement officials operating in Pulaski County that do not have contracts with the county are subject to a per-day, per-inmate charge for each person held for them in the jail, but Pulaski County officials have said they do not plan to enforce the payments until Jan. 1. The charge is $245 for the first day and $44 for each day afterward, a cost the county said is higher for the cities than the contract the county is proposing.
Metro on 08/13/2014