A nearly $8 million contract to keep people arrested in Dallas in the county jail led to some touchy exchanges between jail officials and council members on Wednesday.
For nearly 50 years, Dallas County jail has held arrested people from surrounding North Texas cities.
The largest jail population comes from Dallas, which does not have its own city jail.
Council members questioned whether to approve the contract with the county jail.
County commissioner John Wiley Price suggested an alternative.
"You know, build your own and then you don't have to worry about $8 million dollars," he said.
The city has reduced its contract payments to the county for the last three fiscal years.
After a lengthy discussion and comments, council members approved the contract.
City officials said delays booking in people at the jail are diverting police officers from keeping streets safe.
Council member Cara Mendelsohn said the city isn't getting those arrest processing reports it's supposed to receive.
"It was agreed to in the contract that it would be provided and it hasn't been," she said. "And so that was one of the questions that the Public Safety Committee is that, you know, could we hold this payment until we get the reports?"
She said the public safety committee also reported that the jail isn't accepting some arrested people.
Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown had this response:
"People are being turned away only if there is a special circumstance," she said. "Here's a special circumstance —the individual has some sort of a medical need that can't be met in our facility. Therefore, we will tell the officer you need to take them to Parkland before we can receive them. In those instances, yes.
"If it is solely a Class C misdemeanor, then yes, we are not receiving them," Brown said. "We have not changed that policy. We are not receiving solely class C misdemeanors."
Council members ultimately approved the contract.
The agreement began in 1978 and in 1997 the contract included a $4.7 million payment to the county.
By 2019 the payment had grown to more than $9 million before decreasing during COVID-19 measures.
Lew Sterrett Justice Center jail detainees cost about $18 million to house in August — $148 million since January.
The jail sometimes pushes near its capacity of 7,000 people, with most arrests coming from the city of Dallas.
Price said that indicates the city contract doesn't cover its share of jail expenses.
"You got 49 percent of our population, 2.7 million, and you you basically deposit about 40 percent of the individuals in that facility," he said. "So when you when you look at that and you start talking about $8 million, you know, you're a little short."
The county is exploring a new jail facility development that could cost up to $5 billion and be mostly complete by 2032.
Got a tip? Email Marina Trahan Martinez at mmartinez@kera.org. You can follow Marina at @HisGirlHildy.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
