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Cass County says Fargo jail contract unresolved; warns of fiscal and service implications
Summary
Commissioners were told the county-approved contract with Fargo remains unaccepted by the city. The sheriff said safety equipment (duress alarms, radios) is already in place, warned about property/evidence disagreements, and cited roughly $753,000 in missed revenue tied to delays negotiating a U.S. Marshals agreement.
Sheriff and a commissioner updated the Cass County Board of Commissioners on the status of the county’s jail contract negotiations with the city of Fargo, saying the county has approved terms but Fargo has not voted to accept the agreement.
Commissioner Flacco and the sheriff described multiple outstanding operational questions that Fargo city leaders raised in follow-up discussions, including distinctions the sheriff described between “personal property” and evidence processing. The sheriff said some equipment that Fargo asked for — a duress alarm and radios — is already installed and available for Fargo officers using the county jail. “The panic button’s already been installed,” the sheriff said. He added that radios and a duress alarm have been available and that county staff can provide training to Fargo personnel on procedures and equipment use.
The sheriff said the county is holding to the commission-approved contract terms (the same terms applied to West Fargo) and that the earliest Fargo could vote on a contract, absent a special meeting, is Sept. 2. He said Sept. 2 is also the date the commission will consider whether to exercise a 90-day termination option; if exercised, termination would be effective Dec. 1. “The deal is a deal,” the sheriff said, urging Fargo leaders to act or accept the terms as written.
The sheriff told commissioners the county could face a drop in jail revenue tied to delays in entering a new agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service. He said that, as of a few weeks before the meeting, the county had been unable to capture about $753,000 that would have been realized under a new agreement; he estimated that amount could increase to about $900,000 by year end. He said about 62.6% of the $753,000 would, in effect, be paid for by Fargo residents based on the tax-base share discussed in prior briefings.
The sheriff also warned that if Fargo did not contract for jail services, the city would need to arrange for alternative detox services since Fargo currently brings detainees to the county jail for detox. The sheriff said the county would continue to accept detainees but would not permit firearms inside the secure jail and that many property items are limited to what can be stored in a property bag; medications are handled under policy because of safety concerns.
On policy-sharing, the sheriff said the county will notify partner agencies of major policy changes (for example, property policy), but pushed back on a request that Fargo be notified of every policy change across the agency’s large Lexipol-based manual. “If they want all of our policies every time we make a change, then that’s gonna be my new full time job,” he said.
Commissioner Flacco said he planned to email Fargo’s mayor to restate the commission’s position and the county’s willingness to answer operational questions. Commissioners did not take a formal vote on the contract during the meeting.
