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Bourbon County commissioners weigh switching juvenile-detention contract to per-diem centers
Summary
County officials heard data showing potential savings if the county stops its contract with Girard juvenile detention and instead pays per-diem rates to Johnson or Douglas counties; staff will seek contract paperwork and return to commissioners before making a final change.
Bourbon County commissioners on Tuesday heard a presentation showing the county could save tens of thousands of dollars annually if it stops its fixed annual contract with the Girard juvenile detention center and instead pays per-diem rates to northern facilities in Johnson or Douglas counties.
The discussion centered on billable days recorded at Girard since 2018 and recent changes in state law and local practice that affect placement decisions and per-diem pricing.
Angie Eads, director of Sixth Judicial District Community Corrections, told the commission that changes coming from 2017’s Senate Bill 367 removed several categories of youth from detention and introduced the Kansas detention risk assessment used to guide placement decisions. “My staff go in and they gather some information from the youth…and then based on that assessment, there’s a determination in coordination with law enforcement whether or not a youth goes to the juvenile detention center,” Eads said. She said her office has tracked billable days at Girard and provided numbers back to county staff.
Under Sheriff Kevin Davidson presented county financial figures showing the dollar difference between holding youth at Girard under the county’s budgeted contract and paying daily rates to other counties. Commissioners discussed sample figures including an $81,227 budget for Girard in 2023 and a $90,004.25 figure for 2024 that Eads reported. Commissioners also discussed a higher contracted figure cited by another county official — $98,000 in 2024 and $134,000 in the current year — and noted discrepancies between billed amounts and what had been budgeted.
Davidson and Eads said Johnson and Douglas counties have offered per-diem rates in recent years in the $150–$180 range per day; Eads said Johnson County recently authorized taking youth from outside its borders. Using the county’s recent utilization patterns, commissioners heard an example that Bourbon County would have saved roughly $53,327 in one recent year by using Johnson or Douglas rather than Girard, with multi-year savings potentially exceeding $300,000 since 2018 if similar patterns had held.
Commissioners repeatedly emphasized the need to verify numbers and contracts before making any change. “Once she has informed me that once everything’s in order…she’ll give me the contract or the paperwork sent to me. Then once that’s here, I will come back before you present it,” Eads said, referring to Johnson County’s paperwork.
No formal motion to change the county’s contract was made during the meeting. Commissioners directed staff to obtain any existing written contract with Girard, gather the per-diem contract or paperwork from Johnson and Douglas counties, reconcile the divergent bill and budget figures, and return to the commission for a formal decision.
Why it matters: commissioners are balancing predictable, budgeted contract costs with potentially lower but variable per-diem charges; the change could change the county’s annual budget exposure for juvenile detention without affecting the legal standards that guide where youth are placed.
The county’s review will include reconciling billed amounts and budgeted figures and checking what services would be provided by alternate detention centers under current state rules.
