Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.The Douglas County Correctional Center is expected to generate at least $500,000 in additional annual revenue under terms of a new contract to house federal prisoners.
Last week the Douglas County Board unanimously approved the 74-page contract between the county and the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The federal government will pay Douglas County $84 per day per inmate for immigration detainees and $88 per day per inmate for prisoners of the marshals service. The previous rate was $73.63 for both classes of prisoner.
"I am very pleased with both rates, from the marshals and ICE," said Mark Foxall, county corrections director. "Our costs have changed over time, and we're just trying to keep up with the costs of housing the federal inmates and detainees."
The county said it stands to receive about $8.8 million for housing federal prisoners, based on its 2011 federal prisoner population. Last year, under the old per diem rate, the county received nearly $8.3 million.
The latest contract with the federal marshal's office keeps the daily reimbursement rate at $88 for the next three years. The $84 rate with immigration services can be renegotiated after one year.
In 2011, Douglas County averaged daily counts of 148 federal prisoners and 134 immigration detainees. The jail's capacity is 1,453 prisoners. Foxall said Friday that the total daily inmate population has averaged about 1,120 prisoners in recent months.
County Board Chairman Marc Kraft said the contracts were negotiated over about 10 months.
"It's a great improvement over what we had," Kraft said. "The jail has fixed costs whether or not we have one inmate or 50 inmates. There is a tremendous advantage to the taxpayers of Douglas County by accepting this agreement between ICE and the marshals office."
Foxall said he hopes to reopen negotiations with ICE in a year and to increase the per diem rate closer to $88.
"The cost of doing business has gone up for personnel, supplies and food service," Foxall said. "Those costs continue to increase every year."
Corrections is one of the largest county departments, with an operating budget of approximately $30 million and about 400 full-time staff members.
Douglas County Board member Clare Duda said the new contract provides the county with a "much more realistic" reimbursement rate. The county has housed federal prisoners for at least a decade, he said.
"We are not making a profit off of them, but it does help us spread our costs out more," Duda said. "This is a relationship we have had for years. They need us and we need them."
County officials said the additional federal revenue will help offset the loss of funds for housing prisoners convicted of state charges. State government stopped reimbursing counties for housing inmates last year. The reimbursement rate had been $35 per day for Douglas County. Last year, the county's average daily inmate population convicted of state charges was 378.
Contact the writer: 402-444-1056, john.ferak@owh.com
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