Supervisors authorize signing of federal marshal contract; sheriff warns staffing limits could curb inmate capacity

Iowa County supervisors voted to authorize the chair to sign an updated contract with the U.S. Marshals Service setting a daily per-inmate rate of $85, up from $60, a move county officials said will increase revenue but could require operational changes to meet transport and staffing demands.

The contract authorization passed by voice vote after a sheriff’s office representative described multi-month negotiations that produced the higher rate. “This agreement here takes us to $85 a day from the previous $60,” the speaker said, adding the county attorney reviewed the contract and “had no concerns.” The board chair moved to authorize the chair to sign; the motion was seconded and approved by the board.

County officials and the sheriff’s office speaker said the higher rate would materially increase revenue if the county accepted more federal inmates. At a current average of about 14 federal inmates per day, the county clears roughly $306,000 annually; going to 16–17 inmates at the new rate could raise gross receipts to roughly $496,000, the sheriff’s office speaker estimated. The speaker calculated that increasing from the current average to 16 inmates could boost revenue by about $80,000 to $200,000 depending on staffing and overtime assumptions, while also noting potential savings from commissary and per-meal costs with higher occupancy.

But the sheriff’s office speaker repeatedly cautioned that transports and staffing are the operational constraints. “When we're trying to get this raise, working with the feds… they liked a little bit something in return, which is a little bit more help with their operation,” the speaker said, noting frequent, last-minute transport notices and the need to maintain deputies for transports and court duties. The speaker said with current staffing and transport demands the county might need to reduce the daily federal inmate average to between 10 and 12 to sustain operations without hiring more staff, or hire additional jailers to safely increase the inmate population.

Supervisors asked the sheriff’s office to return next week with refined numbers. The sheriff’s office speaker said he would provide a more detailed budget showing revenue and expense scenarios so the board could consider whether to expand federal inmate capacity and whether hiring would be required.

The board’s vote authorized signature of the contract only; no immediate change to the county’s inmate intake policy was mandated. The speaker asked for, and received, the board’s consensus to bring more detailed fiscal scenarios back for discussion.

Ending note: The sheriff’s office representative asked the board to weigh the tradeoffs between additional revenue and the cost of hiring more staff or absorbing more overtime, noting that commissary balances and other inmate-related revenue could partially offset expenses if the county increased federal inmate counts.