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Senate advances bill to make regional jail districts permanent, caps inmate phone costs
Summary
Senate substitute for Senate Bill 50, aimed at enabling the Davies‑DeKalb Regional Jail District to complete a new facility, was adopted after senators added language preserving the district’s funding authority permanently and clarifying temporary private housing and prisoner phone rates.
The Missouri Senate adopted a substitute for Senate Bill 50 on Feb. 4 that removes a scheduled expiration for a sales tax supporting the Davies‑DeKalb Regional Jail District, clarifies joining procedures for new counties and tightens temporary contracting rules for prisoner housing. The substitute also incorporated a separate bill that limits inmate phone charges.
Why it matters: Sponsors said the change removes the administrative burden and operational risk of periodic voter reauthorization for a district that needs stable revenue to finish a planned jail replacement. The measure is framed as a tool to help smaller counties collaborate on expensive detention infrastructure without risking dissolution of the regional authority by a single participant’s vote.
Key provisions and debate: Sponsor Senator from Livingston described the bill as removing a sunset so the district need not repeatedly ask voters to renew a local sales tax and as allowing the district to increase its maximum sales tax from 0.5% to 1% with voter approval. He said the bill also clarifies that temporary contracts with private jails are permissible as an interim measure while a new facility is built but that the district cannot be privatized.
Senators also agreed to include language limiting domestic inmate telephone charges to no more than $0.12 per minute; sponsors described that cap as intended to maintain prisoners’ connections to family without allowing commercial providers to profit excessively from captive customers.
Votes and next steps: The substitute and associated amendments were adopted on the floor and the bill was perfected and ordered printed for the next stage. Sponsors said they plan to oversee implementation language and to monitor contracting and reimbursement provisions for counties that participate.
Ending: With the substitute adopted, districts that meet the bill’s conditions will have a stable pathway to finance replacement jails and to coordinate operations, while corrections advocates and sheriffs will watch implementation of the phone‑cost cap and the temporary contracting language.
