Expanded jail funds advance in Garland County
HOT SPRINGS — Justices of the peace have advanced funding for a fully operational Garland County jail, giving a do-pass recommendation to the $441,935 appropriation from the jail fund.
Chief Deputy of Corrections Steven Elrod told the Garland County Quorum Court Finance Committee last week that the money would expand the jail to its 499-bed design capacity and open the 168,000-square-foot facility’s eighth and final housing unit. The human-resources committee also has approved the creation of six new detention deputy positions to staff the expansion. The positions would have a $34,892 starting salary if funded.
The full Quorum Court will consider the appropriation ordinance at its monthly meeting today. According to information provided by the county finance department, the 0.375% countywide sales tax-supported jail fund had a more than $6.3 million balance as of last week. The appropriation would increase its budget to $8.89 million, 72.36% of its more than $12.2 million in annual projected revenue.
The annual revenue forecast included an almost $5 million balance carried over from 2019. Counties are prohibited from appropriating a fund beyond 90% of its projected annual revenue.
The inmate count has been consistently at or over 400 since last year. The 2020 jail budget the Quorum Court approved included funding to open a second housing area for women. It opened in November, lifting intake restrictions that required women to be released before new ones could be booked.
“The goal last year was to alleviate the overcrowding of our female population,” Elrod told the Finance Committee. “We were overcrowded to the point we had female inmates being housed in booking waiting for any bed space whatsoever inside the facility.
“Opening that second female housing unit has alleviated the problem. When we saw the issue, we were able to fix it.”
The additional funding would open a sixth housing area for men in the 64-bed F unit. The male population has been at or over the five male housing areas’ combined 307bed capacity since last year. Intake restrictions implemented in September require men to be released before new ones can be booked.
“We didn’t want to open another unit last year because we were still gauging our data,” Elrod said. “We didn’t want to have a kneejerk reaction, but we’re to a point where we’ve been overcrowded with the males about as long as we were with the females.”
Several justices of the peace noted the jail’s support services could absorb the addition of a ninth housing unit. Medical, kitchen and laundry areas were built to accommodate up to 625 inmates. But County Judge Darryl Mahoney said other means, such as accelerating adjudications in district and circuit courts to reduce the number of pre-sentenced inmates, should be considered before any new capital outlays.
“Let’s don’t even think about another pod until we’ve had a chance to look at a way to do some alternative sentencing or some other way to speed up the process,” he told the committee.
In addition to $149,429 in salaries for six detention deputies, the additional funding would pay for $25,000 in inmate food costs and $35,000 in utility costs. The $80,000 outlay for inmate medical, dental and hospital care would be the biggest addition to the budget after salaries.
In January, the county and Oklahoma City contractor Turnkey Health Clinics LLC agreed to an amendment of the three-year inmate health care contract that took effect in January 2018. The amendment, enshrined in a county court order, increased the county’s monthly payment to $93,000, money the Quorum Court appropriated to the 2020 jail budget’s medical, dental and hospital line item.
The original contract established an $81,590 monthly payment with annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index. The county and Turn Key agreed to renegotiate compensation if the average daily population exceeded 373 inmates for three consecutive months. The average daily count has been at or over 400 since last summer.
The amendment raised the threshold for renegotiation to three consecutive months of the average daily population exceeding 435. It increased Turn Key’s staffing obligation from 353.75 hours a week and 8.84 full-time equivalent positions to 409.75 hours and 10.25 full-time equivalent positions.
Outsourcing limits the county’s liability from claims related to improper delivery of inmate health care. The county’s former insurer and risk management contractor paid $50,000 in May 2018 to settle a claim stemming from the 2014 death of an inmate who died while in the custody of the old jail on Ouachita Avenue. It was one of numerous lawsuits claiming improper medical care at the facility, which was plagued by crowding, understaffing and deferred maintenance.
The county hired a third-party contractor to provide inmate care before moving into the new jail at 3564 Albert Pike Road in June 2015. The $42 million complex’s four examination rooms and dental treatment room allow most care to be done on site.