Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for August 27, 2006 BI-COUNTY FIGHT OVER TRI-COUNTY JAIL

From the Southern Illinoisan...

Alexander, Pulaski counties fight over jail money

by andrea hahn, the southern

MOUND CITY - Alexander County has until Oct. 1 to get 75 percent current on its jail bill or its detainees will no longer be accepted by the Tri-County Justice and Detention Center.

The Pulaski County Board of Commissioners says Alexander County is stiffing them on payments owed under an intergovernmental agreement. And the county is ready to take the matter to court.

As an interim measure, the Pulaski County board, which, under an intergovernmental agreement between Pulaski, Alexander and Union counties, is fiscally responsible for operating and maintaining the jail facility, agreed Wednesday night to give its neighbor county a deadline by which to bring its outstanding bill under control.

In July, Pulaski County filed a complaint against the Alexander County Board of Commissioners alleging the county was behind at that time $170,048.05 in payments accrued through an agreement regarding housing of detainees at the Tri-County Justice and Detention Center in Ullin.

According to the agreement, as presented in the complaint, Alexander County and Union County - also party to the agreement - pay $48.60 per prisoner bed per day to Pulaski County. In exchange, Pulaski County assumes all operation and maintenance costs for the jail. Payment is to be made within 20 days of receipt of billing. The complaint indicates that payment is owed from October 2005.

Pulaski County has asked for a judgment requiring Alexander County to pay in full within 30 days of the judgment, including interest on the amount owed. The matter has not yet been heard in court, but the county leaders have discussed the issue.

"We are aware they are having financial problems and we are sympathetic to that," Pulaski County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jerry Thurston said. "It's a tough situation for us. We have to decide whether we'll continue to accept their prisoners. If we refuse them, they'll have to go to another county. I don't know if they'll be accepted on credit."

Thurston said the issue has come to a head because the late payments have been chronic and the bill has grown to a significant amount. He said he spoke with Alexander County Board of Commissioners Chairman Lewis McRoy this week. He said McRoy was apologetic, and indicated he was doing what he could to get the funds together to pay the bill.

However, the answer to the lawsuit denies elements of the complaint. Among the sections of the complaint denied is a statement from Pulaski County that the intergovernmental agreement among Pulaski, Alexander and Union counties was the basis for Pulaski County's securing a $7.3 million loan from the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development.

The answer to the complaint also denies that Alexander County has not complied with the terms and conditions of the intergovernmental agreement.

"We were surprised they challenged the lawsuit the way they did," Thurston said. "It's unfortunate to have to take legal action."

The Tri-County Justice and Detention Center holds detainees from Pulaski, Alexander and Union counties and is a holding facility for the federal government.

According to the agreement, Pulaski County is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the facility. The county has contracted with an independent manager to run the jail.

The counties - including Pulaski - pay per inmate. According to the agreement, the counties pay $48.60 per detainee if they undertake the transportation of the inmate to and from court appearances. If the county opts to let the jail handle the transportation, the fee is a total of $51.50 per prisoner bed per day. Payments from Alexander and Union counties are made to Pulaski County, which, in turn, deposits the funds into the Pulaski County Jail Facility Fund. That fund pays, among other things, the debt service on the Pulaski County USDA-RD loan in accordance with the terms of the agreement.

Gayla Jones, contract monitor and administrative assistant for the county, works with the jail. She said day-to-day operations haven't been affected by Alexander County's tardiness in payment - yet.

"We have a lot of federal prisoners, and they pay," she said, noting that the Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services has about 150 inmates at any one time at the jail, which has a 226-person capacity. "That's what holds us together."

Besides per day/per bed fees, Alexander County has owed in the past for medical treatment to detainees, Jones said. Whenever an inmate is taken off the facility ground to a hospital, the county is responsible for picking up the tab.

McRoy chose not to comment on the situation.