Creole County budget staff told commissioners July 28 that a planned replacement of jail air handlers could force the county to house inmates out of county during construction and recommended increasing the prisoner-boarding line in FY2026.
The most newsworthy point: Staff said replacing nine air handlers is expected to take 45 days to two months. Based on housing 43 inmates for up to 60 days at the county’s highest boarding rate (discussed in the meeting as $1.25 per inmate per day), staff computed a worst-case temporary boarding cost of about $309,600. For budget prudence, staff proposed increasing the prisoner-board projection from a previously budgeted $2.2 million to $2.4 million.
Why it matters: Out-of-county boarding is a large and variable expense that has driven large swings in the jail budget in prior years. Staff showed that, through June (about three-quarters of the fiscal year), prisoner-boarding expenditures were roughly $1.4 million; carrying that run-rate forward produced a projected FY2025 total near $1.9 million, and the additional contingency for temporary housing would push the FY2026 projection into the $2.2–2.4 million range depending on assumptions.
Personnel note: Commissioners recorded a consensus to support a targeted wage adjustment for the jail’s "kitchen boss" position (identified in the materials and discussion as Atkins). Staff said the position requires licensed food-service management and weekly ordering and that moving the salary from roughly $40 to $43.05 (about a $3,500 annual increase as presented) better reflects the position’s specialized duties. The court also indicated support for a pay adjustment for a civil-process staff member and a raise request in dispatch tied to workload; both items were discussed as position-based wage adjustments rather than one-time merit payments.
Outcomes and next steps: The court directed staff to program the higher prisoner-boarding figure (the working projection discussed was $2.4 million) into the FY2026 worksheets and to continue monitoring trends; staff said they would return with any contract confirmations and a refined projection. Commissioners also tasked staff with accounting for the air-handler schedule and any short-term housing needs in the next budget iteration.
Ending: Staff will update the jail projections and return to the commission as part of the ongoing FY2026 budget process.