MOUNT VERNON — In a joint session on Monday night, Mayor Richard Mavis told the county commissioners that the city is considering ending its contract to pay for housing inmates at the Knox County Jail.
The current three-year contract ends on Dec. 31. Mavis suggested a six-month extension before pulling out completely.
“Our concern is we hadn’t planned for that,” said Commissioner Teresa Bemiller. “That’s almost a $300,000 loss for the county with the public defender contract. We won’t realize the full sales tax until the end of the year. You have the right to do it, I understand that, but we would like to have some time to prepare.”
“We were a little shocked that we weren’t notified of this earlier,” said Jason Booth, county administrator. “We’re in the middle of wrapping up budgets and now we have a $300,000 hole. Six months buys us some time, but timing is an issue.”
The debate revolves around whether offenders are charged under city code or state code. When the Mount Vernon Police Department arrests offenders and charges them under city code, the city pays the county to house the offenders in the county jail. The city keeps any fine money the offenders pay. The other option is to charge offenders under state code, in which case the city does not pay for inmate housing, but the fine money goes to the county.
According to Auditor Terry Scott, into the early 1990s the city had no contract with the county for housing inmates. The sheriff’s office had to track any medical claims and then bill them to the city.
“It was very, very difficult,” said Scott. “The arrangement that we have today, there probably was an economic advantage [at one time].”
From the city’s perspective, it no longer makes economic sense to charge offenders under city code. Between inmate housing costs ($251,000) and public defender expenses ($45,000), the city would save $296,000 a year charging under state code.
“From the city’s side of it, you would diminish the public defender contract significantly; the savings would be around $300,000. We’re estimating we’d give up about $50,000 in fines,” said Scott.
“The county would have to pick up all of those expenses,” said Collier. “Yes, it means they won’t pay them from the city level, but they’ll have to pay at the county level.”
City bookings climbed from 622 in 2015 to 807 from Jan. 1 through Nov. 27 of this year. County Prosecutor Chip McConville said that the increase in bookings is due to an increase in drug use as well as changes in sentencing laws.
“What used to be minor misdemeanors … now are second-degree misdemeanors which are jailable. You are seeing more of these drug offenses jailable,” he said.
“The city accounts for 20 percent of the [county] population but 60 percent of the bookings in the jail, and that’s a significant number,” said Commissioner Thom Collier. “It’s a significant disproportion to the population and use of the jail.”
City Law Director Rob Broeren said the numbers are only approximate, as some offenders arrested by the MVPD do not live in the city.
Council members Nancy Vail and Sam Barone said city residents in effect pay twice, first through the city’s jail contract and second through their county taxes.
“Just as many people work outside the city who work in the city, and they don’t have a say,” countered Collier.
“We pay $150,000 to the [Mount Vernon] Municipal Court, and we don’t have a say in who’s hired,” added Bemiller.
Responding to Vail’s questions about what happens if the jail reaches capacity and what the county is trying to do to reduce expenses, Sheriff David Shaffer said he cannot reject an inmate unless there’s a medical issue.
“Just because I have a certain amount of inmates, or I’m at capacity, I cannot refuse them,” he said.
“If we’re at 100 or 110 [inmates], then we have to rent space somewhere else,” said Collier.
McConville said initiatives at the state level are designed to reduce the number of offenders who spend time in jail. Low-level offenders are being followed under parole/probation programs. Additionally, a pre-trial program is meeting with some success, but there is still a heavy caseload.
“We’re watching bond/bail movement to to give us an idea of what the things are that make a person not able to show up in court,” he said. “Most of the jail population is pre-trial. That’s where the management of a pre-trial program will make a difference.”
“Courts are moving up arraignments so we can move those people who won’t re-offend out of the jail sooner,” said Broeren.
Regarding the fines collected through municipal court, which would go to the county if the city begins charging under state code, Broeren said that Municipal Court Judge John Thatcher is moving away from fining people when they are unable to pay.
“In addition, he’s really stepped up collection for when they do assess fines,” he said.
“Judge Thatcher recognizes he can’t jail people for not paying fines, but he can put due diligence on them. If they do not pay in 30 days, he has them appear in court to see why they didn’t pay,” said Scott. “It’s been effective with re-offenders who are not paying fines.”
Safety-service Director Joel Daniels told KnoxPages.com that he will draw up a six-month extension for the jail and public defender contracts that will include a 3 percent increase.
A second topic discussed was the pedestrian crosswalk on East High Street in front of the courthouse. Daniels said the city is considering installing a solar-activated flashing light to warn drivers of the crosswalk. The light would be placed to the side of the street, not in the center of the crosswalk.
The final agenda item involved the alley between the courthouse and the Giles law office. The commissioners will pave the alley at some point in 2018 and requested that the city coordinate its water/sewer line repairs with the paving project.
