Extend expiring jail pact 1 year, LR mayor urges

Redo plan costs cities more

The mayors of the five largest cities in Pulaski County are leaning toward extending the current contract to fund the county jail rather than accepting County Judge Buddy Villines' proposal for a more expensive contract.

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola urged the other mayors at a meeting Thursday to contact their justices of the peace about voting against a county ordinance coming up next week that, in the absence of a new contract, would charge each city for each day a prisoner from its jurisdiction is held in the jail awaiting a court date.

Thirteen of 15 justices of the peace have sponsored the ordinance.

Citing the fact that Villines is retiring at the end of the year, Stodola has proposed a one-year extension of the current contract between the county and Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Jacksonville and Maumelle.

Three people have filed to run for county judge. They are businessman and former state Rep. Barry Hyde, a Democrat; rancher and former Pulaski County Election Commissioner Phil Wyrick, a Republican; and marijuana activist Glen Schwarz, a Libertarian.

Last month, Villines formally proposed a 10-year contract that would increase the cities' payments to fund the jail by 5 percent in the first year and by 3 percent for each of the next nine years after that. The jail's current annual operating budget is $25 million.

Under the current contract, the cities together pay about $3 million per year. The county provides the balance of the jail's funding from its own general fund, which includes some indirect contributions from cities, as well as payments from the state and federal government for holding inmates in the jail.

The current contract, which was drafted in 1990 and became effective Aug. 1, 1994, expires next month.

Villines has said the county has covered the rising cost of operating the jail while the cities have paid the same amount over the past 20 years. He wants a 3 percent increase to cover the rising costs.

Maumelle Mayor Mike Watson and Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman have said they aren't happy about the automatic 3 percent increase.

Watson said Thursday, however, that Villines' proposed increase is cheaper than being subject to the per-day charge. Maumelle pays about $48,000 to the county under the current contract.

"I don't want to tell the council to fight this and then get stuck with $100,000," he said.

Calculations from the county of how much each city would have paid in 2013 on a per-inmate, per-day basis were dramatically higher than what each city paid. The total was hundreds of thousands of dollars more for Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood and Jacksonville, and about double for Maumelle.

The ordinance going before the Quorum Court at its Tuesday meeting charges cities $245 for the first day for holding inmates and $44 for subsequent days. The higher cost for the first day includes medical exams and other procedures that are conducted when an inmate is booked into the jail.

Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher said he's concerned that his city already pays more than Sherwood, which is now larger than Jacksonville and, he said, sends more people to the jail.

He added that Jacksonville had to dip into reserves for its budget this year. North Little Rock and Maumelle did the same.

Stodola is, so far, resistant to paying more money because he said he believes Little Rock already pays more than it should. Under the current contract, the city pays approximately $1.7 million per year.

North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith said he would support a one-year contract extension but added that Villines had indicated in a recent conversation that he was not interested in a one-year agreement.

Villines, who was not at Thursday's meeting, said afterward he wanted to wait to comment until he heard what the mayors had to say at their next meeting, which is Monday with the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.

Pulaski County Sheriff Doc Holladay backs Villines' proposed increase and wants the cities to get on board before their budget-planning sessions begin and before a new county judge takes over in 2015.

"That's not to speak unfavorably of whoever the next county judge will be, but I feel if we wait until the next county judge gets a clear understanding of the funding it's only going to delay the agreement that much further," Holladay said.

As for the ordinance, officials from the five cities say they remain uncertain as to which inmates they would be financially on the hook for, and some suggested that the cities could file a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment.

Arkansas Municipal League legal director Mark Hayes has said he believes a city is responsible for inmates only if they have violated a municipal code.

Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter said he believes a Pulaski County Circuit Court order from the early 1990s still stands for the county and three cities involved in a lawsuit. The order states that people are only considered county inmates if they have violated county code or have been bound over to circuit court for violating a state statute.

"I know we don't want litigation, but it's looking like a strong possibility," said Alexander City Attorney Kevin Lemley.

Alexander, Cammack Village and Wrightsville are not included as a part of the new contract proposal and could be subject to the ordinance, if passed.

A section on 07/04/2014

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