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Council asks for cost-of-service and liability analysis after chief proposes raising per-detainee fee
Summary
The police chief recommended raising the intergovernmental per-detainee fee (citing a national average around $150 per day) to help offset growing jail maintenance, staffing and medical costs. Councilors expressed concern about in-custody liability and recommended staff return with cost-of-service options — including raising fees, limiting outside jurisdictions, or focusing only on East Point residents — before any policy change.
Police leadership told council the city’s jail has absorbed growing maintenance, staffing and medical costs and that current intergovernmental-fee rates are insufficient to cover the expense of housing out-of-jurisdiction detainees.
Chief described recurring maintenance needs (cell repairs, kitchen repairs, flooded cells) and medical events that can require officers to accompany detainees to hospitals, increasing overtime and staffing pressure. He said that a modest increase to roughly $150 per detainee per day would move the city closer to national per-capita benchmarks but would not cover extraordinary medical or litigation exposures.
Council members raised multiple concerns: the city bears in‑custody liability once it accepts an outside agency’s detainee, past settlements (the chief cited a recent $2.5 million payout) have been large, and the jail facility was not originally designed to operate as a regional detention hub. Several councilors urged staff to prepare a cost-of-service analysis that includes: detailed staffing and overtime costs, maintenance and capital needs, potential indemnity/insurance requirements and worst‑case litigation exposure, and modeled price points (e.g., $150, $500, or resident-only policy) with revenue and risk implications.
City manager and the chief supported returning with clear scenarios and suggested the council consider establishing the jail as an enterprise fund to separate revenue and cost accounting. Council asked staff to return with the requested comparative analyses and legal/insurance options before considering a policy change.
