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Commission defers decision on prisoner boarding fees to allow cost analysis
Summary
Bedford County commissioners deferred action for one month on setting prisoner boarding fees for out-of-county inmates and asked staff to analyze true costs and consider contracts.
Bedford County commissioners voted to defer a decision for one month on establishing or adopting a county rate for boarding out-of-county inmates. The discussion centered on whether the state or the county rate should apply and on recovering the county's true operating costs.
County speakers said some counties that send inmates here after decertification have used the state rate, which was described in the packet as rising to $46 per day; commissioners said that amount likely undercounts actual local costs. Commissioners emphasized the need to analyze the county's true per-detainee costs, to consider a written contract similar to juvenile-detention agreements and to identify medical and liability exposures before setting a permanent rate.
A motion to defer was made and approved; commissioners asked the sheriff's office to provide details and asked Robert (named in the record) to run cost-analysis numbers for the next meeting.
