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Cowlitz County reviews 2025 jail budget, flags intergovernmental revenue and staffing shortfalls
Summary
County commissioners heard that the jail’s intergovernmental revenue exceeded budget by about $127,000 in 2025 and reviewed cost and revenue lines for detention charges, medical contracts, commissary income and staffing vacancies; staff also outlined plans to join a Medicaid billing cohort midyear.
County commissioners on Monday reviewed the 2025 jail and corrections budget, where staff reported the jail’s intergovernmental revenue was roughly $127,000 over budget.
Commissioner Sean Rowey and county staff attributed the overage to higher federal meal reimbursements for a juvenile transition school and to a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) grant used to provide suboxone. “They were over budget approximately $127,000 for their intergovernmental revenue,” staff said. On the MAT grant, staff said, “it's the suboxone most typically and that's a grant through the healthcare authority.”
The review also covered charges-for-detention revenue the county receives from municipal partners and the state Department of Corrections (DOC). Staff reported City of Longview detention charges at about $1,000,000, Kelso at about $360,000 and DOC charges near $211,000, and said they expect those revenues to rise this year as intake increases.
Personnel costs came in under budget, but commissioners were told the department finished the year with two active corrections-officer vacancies. Commissioners noted regional difficulties hiring officers and low officer-to-population ratios locally, and asked for crime-rate data to compare trends.
Offender-services revenue and work-crew reimbursements were reported below budget last year; staff said crews are back to more regular deployment and forecast increased revenue in the current year. The jail’s commissary and phone-contract commissions fund inmate-program expenses such as work-crew tools and clothing.
Staff said the county has lifted a previously imposed cap on accepting DOC inmates and is averaging 12–14 DOC inmates daily; the transcript reports the county’s current DOC daily rate as 10904. According to staff, DOC pays for its inmates’ medical care and the county bills DOC for medical expenses. Commissioners and staff also discussed plans for the county to join a Medicaid billing cohort midyear to seek reimbursement for jail medical services, but staff cautioned that reimbursements have been slow and the amounts uncertain.
The board did not take formal action during the budget review; staff and commissioners agreed to follow up with more detailed reimbursement-rate data and staffing metrics at future meetings.
