Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Jail Contract topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Jail director proposes per‑bed pilot billing that could lower costs for small cities
Summary
Chelan County Jail Director Chris Sharp presented a 2027 pilot to bill small cities by daily bed usage—$2.13 per bed day in one option—arguing it is simpler than a three‑year rolling average; councilors pressed for details on how single long sentences could swing costs for small jurisdictions.
Chris Sharp, Chelan County Jail director, told the Leavenworth City Council the county is proposing a pilot contract for 2027 that would change how small cities are billed for jail bed days. "We're gonna try this out as a pilot program for '27," Sharp said, explaining the option to charge $2.13 per bed day for small cities while the county would hold itself at $2.88. He gave average daily population (ADP) figures for Leavenworth—331 in 2025, 181 in 2024 and 173 in 2023—and cited an example projection of $11,076 for Leavenworth under the $2.13 rate.
Council members asked how sentencing patterns and dual‑jurisdiction bookings would affect charges. Sharp warned that a single long felony sentence can sharply increase a small city's billed bed days: "If you have one guy who got six months... that's what he got," he said, noting that such cases can change a small city's costs dramatically. Staff and councilors discussed quarterly reconciliations, capital cost allocations and the pilot's risk, and Sharp said the county may revert to a different model if the pilot does not meet budget expectations.
