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Moscow council approves three-year MOU with Latah County after lengthy public discussion
Summary
The city approved a three-year memorandum of agreement with Latah County to use the county jail as a daytime holding facility for bookings and processing, with after-hours transports to Nez Perce County. Council voted 6–1 to approve; Councilmember Hailey voted no and Councilmember Drew recused earlier in unrelated item.
The Moscow City Council voted 6–1 on July 7 to approve a memorandum of agreement (MOU) with Latah County that allows the county to operate a reduced-capacity daytime holding facility for court-related bookings and to provide limited evening coverage during special-event weekends. Councilmembers approved the agreement after extended public and council discussion about operational and staffing consequences for the Moscow Police Department.
City staff described the MOU as an attempt to reduce immediate impacts after Latah County decided to transition its jail from a full residential facility to a temporary holding facility because of fire- and life-safety shortcomings identified in a recent inspection. Under the MOU, the county will operate the holding facility roughly from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and will expand staffing on specified special-event weekends (for example, home football game weekends) to operate from 6 p.m. until about 2 a.m. During county operating hours, Moscow officers may bring arrested persons to the Latah facility for booking and processing; if the person must remain in custody beyond county hours, county or contracted facilities (Nez Perce County and, backup, Whitman County) will house detainees.
Bill (city staff) briefed council on the background: an August inspection of the Latah County jail identified several life-safety deficiencies, and on June 10 the county commission approved transitioning the jail to a holding facility and a contract with Nez Perce County for long-term housing. City staff said the county’s holding plan will limit overnight housing locally, and the city will still need to transport most arrestees to Nez Perce County outside the county’s holding hours.
Chief Anthony Dellinger of the Moscow Police Department said the change will add strain to department staffing and operations, noting that Moscow currently arrests roughly 250 people per year who would otherwise be housed locally. Dellinger said the department will use an on-call transport schedule for after-hours arrests and that officers will be paid for on-call transport duties. City estimates cited at the meeting placed additional direct labor and operating costs for on-call transport in the range of about $125,000–$130,000 per year (estimate provided by city staff based on prior analysis); the figure includes overtime labor, vehicle wear and fuel and was presented as an approximate planning figure.
Council members raised concerns about transparency and county communication, the burden on Moscow officers for long-distance transports to Lewiston (Nez Perce County), and the potential public impacts if released arrestees must find their own transportation back to Moscow after posting bond. Bill and Chief Dellinger answered questions on the county’s contract with Whitman County as a backup when Nez Perce County has no capacity, specifics of deficiencies the county identified (sprinkler heads missing in some locations, aging fire alarm system, limited security camera coverage and missing SCBA units), and that the county is pursuing replacement or renovation but had concluded closure of full residential operations was its best option in the near term.
Several council members described the situation as a failure of county planning and communication; others said the MOU was the least-bad option to protect the city’s police department from a much larger operational burden. Councilmember Hailey said she opposed the agreement on principle and cited concerns about fairness to arrested residents, county communications, and strain on city resources. The motion to approve the MOU carried 6–1. If either party terminates the three-year agreement early, the MOU requires a minimum 90-day notice.
City staff said they will continue to monitor county capacity and transportation costs and return to council with further information as needed. The MOU does not obligate the city to pay county booking fees; those costs and any increases for contracted housing would be borne by the county under current arrangements, though council members noted they expect county costs to affect the regional system and potentially county taxpayers.
