BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials are optimistic about the idea of increasing jail revenue by housing more federal prisoners in the County Jail, but they say other issues still need to be addressed.
Sheriff Shawn Holloway told the Quorum Court last week his office is in talks with the U.S. Marshals Service on a new agreement between the two agencies to hold federal prisoners in the jail. Raising the daily fees paid by the federal agency and increasing the number of federal prisoners held at the jail could net the county between $800,000 and $1 million in additional revenue, Holloway said.
Jail fees
Benton County’s revenue from jail fees has fluctuated in recent years, according to Brenda Guenther, comptroller. In 2014, the county received $165,280 from cities; $1,686,804 from the state; and $263,292 from the U.S. Marshal’s Service. In 2015, those figures were $148,380 from the cities; $2,189,174 from the state; and $214,231 from the Marshal’s Service. In 2016, Guenther said, the amounts were $190,305 from the cities; $947,700 from the state; and $165,087 from the Marshal’s Service.
Source: Staff report
Capt. Jeremy Guyll said the agreement is still being worked out.
"It's going to happen," Guyll said. "We've just not set the dollar amount yet. It's going to be a pretty big deal."
The agreement with the federal government was last addressed in 2011 or 2012, while Keith Ferguson was sheriff. The county is now paid $40 per day for each federal inmate housed, according to records. The county is hopeful the federal agency will agree to an increase of $70 to $75 per day, Guyll said. The county is paid $50 to hold prisoners from cities in Benton County and $30 per day to hold prisoners who have been sentenced to the state Department of Correction, but have not yet been transferred to state custody. The county estimates its cost to house prisoners at $48 per day.
Some additional revenue will be offset by added costs, including fuel and deputies tasked with transporting federal inmates to court appearances. Those costs will vary according to the number of federal inmates held and the frequency of their court appearances, Guyll said.
The jail has a design capacity for 669 inmates. The jail normally has between 525 and 530 inmates, but that fluctuates depending on the number of preconviction and postconviction detainees, the number of women inmates, the number of sex offenders and others who require special conditions. Recent jail expansion projects have increased the overall capacity and improved the county's ability to meet the federal guidelines for housing female inmates, Guyll said. On one recent day the county held 102 prisoners for the state, 124 prisoners for cities and 13 federal prisoners. The rest were county prisoners.
Susan Anglin, justice of the peace, is chairwoman of the county's Legislative Committee and liaison to the Association of Arkansas Counties. The county should continue to press the state to increase the money counties receive, which was raised from $28 per day to $30 per day two years ago, Anglin said. An increase in the reimbursement rate from the federal government is encouraging, but Anglin said she wants to see information on costs and any impact on other jail operations before she endorses the idea.
"We really need to look at everything because of that increase in personnel," Anglin said. "We don't have an unlimited pot of money. It sounds good when you say you're going to have more money per prisoner, but what happens if the number of state inmates we're being asked to hold goes up? I want to see more information."
County Judge Barry Moehring echoed Anglin's concerns about the costs and the question of the level of state reimbursement. Jail fees are just one county-state issue, saying disaster assistance funding and the cost of buying new voting equipment are others, Moehring said.
"Those are three areas where I feel the state should provide more adequate funding to the counties," Moehring said. "I know money is tight at the state level, but it's tight at the county level as well. I don't want to overblow any of these things. There are budget challenges facing the state and we face them as well."
State Rep. Dan Douglas of Bentonville said he sees no prospects for additional state money being made available for county jails or any other problem areas. State revenue projections are down and a number of issues being considered at the federal government level -- health care, Medicaid and highway funding were three Douglas singled out -- could increase demands on state money.
"There's just so many unknowns out there," Douglas said. "I don't see any additional spending for anything in the short-term future."
NW News on 06/04/2017