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Baker County officials report $199,432 returned, cite higher federal detention rates and planned facility projects
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Summary
BCSO leadership told the county commission it returned $199,432.93 after a year of lower overtime and hospital costs, described new U.S. Marshals and ICE arrangements that raise per-diem and transport rates, and outlined planned facility work including ICE-funded privacy 'knee walls', a storage building and an evidence-vault expansion.
Baker County correctional leadership told the county commission that the jail closed the fiscal year under its adopted budget and is returning $199,432.93 to county coffers.
"We submitted a budget of 11,954,270. So the good news is we didn't spend all that money...we were able to return to you a $199,432.93," said Randy, speaking for the sheriff's office. He attributed the surplus mainly to reductions in overtime and hospital stays compared with the prior year.
Randy also described newly finalized negotiations with the U.S. Marshals Service and continued contacts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that moved contract start dates earlier and raised reimbursement rates. "We went from a rate of $92.50 per inmate...to a $106 per inmate daily, per diem rate," he said, and added that transport-officer pay rose "from $32 an hour...to $40." Randy said applying the new rates to last year’s average-daily-population and transport activity could yield roughly $500,000 to $1,000,000 more in revenue for the next fiscal year, depending on future detainee counts.
Board members and staff discussed the operational balance between county inmates and federal detainees. Randy said the county holds roughly 500 beds at the facility, with 250 typically allocated to ICE; marshals placements have historically run near a 95 ADP but can be more productive when they reach about 110. He cautioned that classification, medical beds and booking needs limit how populations can be mixed.
The sheriff's office also outlined several capital and facility projects. One involves construction of concrete "knee walls" in immigration dormitory toilet areas, a change prompted by Civil Rights/Civil Liberties (CRCL) inspections. Randy said the sheriff's office is in compliance with existing standards but that CRCL and ICE requested the privacy walls. An engineering firm quoted roughly $50,000 to produce structural and specifications drawings. "If ICE says, 'hey, we want this done and we'll pay for it,' then we would look at it at that time," Randy said, and later added, "They will pay all the cost," reflecting discussions that any construction would be funded by the federal partner and flow through an updated intergovernmental agreement.
County staff and a board member clarified procurement and asset issues: if federal funds pay the contractor directly and do not hit the county’s books, county procurement thresholds and previous procurement concerns would likely not be triggered, but the board would still consider the work a capital improvement and want to be apprised.
Randy said the knee walls would be installed only on the immigration side and that design must preserve sight-lines for officer safety and PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) considerations: "The concept of the knee wall is to be able for an officer to...count heads, you can see that they're okay...but you're not exposing any parts of their body that would cause us a PREA issue." He noted the county must verify square-footage standards after engineers produce specifications because added walls could reduce usable space and affect dormitory classifications.
Other planned projects include a storage building for emergency equipment (a roughly 100-by-60-foot shell the county graded and expects to receive early in the year) that the sheriff's office said would be finished largely with inmate labor and funded from the corrections 'M' fund rather than general county funds. The sheriff's office also described a long-running shortage of climate-controlled evidence storage and an evidence-room expansion being evaluated by the same engineering firm; Randy said the office will pursue outside funding, matches, or grants for that work but did not provide final cost estimates.
Board members thanked corrections leadership for the fiscal performance and asked to be kept informed as engineering specs, agreements and any federal funding are finalized. Randy said the office will report back when plans and updated funding arrangements are available, noting the work could require changes to county asset records and insurance coverage.
The exchange concluded with no formal county-funded commitments beyond routine oversight; the board acknowledged the potential for increased federal revenue and directed staff to keep the commission updated as project specifications and intergovernmental agreements progress.
