Committee recommends amendment to Cleveland jail contract to expand central booking, raise per diem

The Cuyahoga County Committee of the Whole on July 22 recommended to the full council a proposed first amendment to the jail agreement with the City of Cleveland that would raise the city—9s per diem for housing prisoners and expand a central booking program aimed at shortening the time uncharged arrestees spend in county custody.

The amendment would raise the per diem paid by the City of Cleveland from $99 to $143 per day and include an automatic 2.5% annual escalator, officials said. It changes how uncharged city arrestees are processed: the amendment eliminates a one-size-fits-all practice of immediately dressing many arrestees into general jail population and instead directs most uncharged arrestees to remain in a central booking area while charging decisions are made. Under the proposed terms, the contractual outer limit for time-to-charge for many arrestees would drop from 36 hours to 12 hours. The city agreed to double daily prosecutor coverage for central booking from 8 hours to 16 hours and to staff a central charging unit with detectives 24/7, the law department said.

Eric Janus, chief of staff for the county executive—9s office, told the committee the administration strongly supports the amendment because "it significantly improves the systems of justice and public safety here in Cuyahoga County." Jared Zibertosky, chief counsel for contracts and transactions in the county law department, outlined the legal and operational changes and repeatedly framed central booking as a tool to get "the most important criminal justice stakeholders" together earlier so charging decisions can be made sooner.

Zibertosky described three processing groups under the amendment: the most serious crimes (unchanged and still admitted to general population), felony-one-to-three suspects (still dressed into population but arresting officers must remain to complete paperwork and time-to-charge drops to 12 hours), and felony-four, felony-five and misdemeanors (brought to the jail but held in central booking, not dressed into general population, and subject to a 12-hour limit). Zibertosky said the second and third groups together account for about 99% of the city—9s uncharged arrestees currently admitted to the jail.

County and sheriff—9s office officials acknowledged a narrow "graveyard shift" exception: between midnight and 8 a.m., when city prosecutors will not be present, uncharged arrestees admitted in that window may be dressed into population and processed more like the status quo, though the 12-hour outer limit still applies from the time of admission. When prosecutors return at 8 a.m., they will prioritize cases admitted overnight so charging decisions can be made promptly.

Sheriff Dallas R. Patel (recorded as Sheriff Patel in the transcript) told the committee the sheriff—9s department will track metrics to monitor implementation, including arrival time of officers, time spent on medical assessment and booking, and how long charging and release take. "We intend to track all the different metrics relative to this," the sheriff said.

Nate Hall, assistant law director, said the city—9s commitment to participate in central booking under the amendment begins 90 days from the effective date and that the new per diem would take effect Jan. 1, 2026, if both councils approve the amendment.

Council members pressed staff on enforceability, how the graveyard-shift exception will operate in practice and the county—9s ability to hold Cleveland to its commitments. Several members emphasized the need for regular data sharing. Zibertosky and county staff said the amendment keeps existing dispute-resolution provisions in the underlying jail agreement and that the county will measure compliance and could seek further remedies if the city does not meet the amendment—9s commitments.

After roughly two hours of presentation and questions, a council member moved to send the resolution to the full council for a second reading; the motion was moved and seconded and carried by voice vote. The committee recommended the resolution to the full council for second reading; the law department indicated final passage would be scheduled for the council meeting on Aug. 5.

The presentation noted the original jail agreement took effect in February 2017, when the city closed its holding cells and transferred much of that processing to the county jail. County negotiators said the amendment is the product of months of negotiation involving the sheriff—9s office, the county prosecutor—9s office, the clerk of courts and the City of Cleveland.

Questions remain about day-to-day logistics and whether Cleveland—9s promised staffing will be sustained. County attorneys emphasized they will measure outcomes and that ongoing cooperation with Cleveland will be necessary to meet the amendment—9s goals.