Scott County jail begins boarding ICE detainees
Monday, December 28, 2009

By Michelle Felter

BENTON, Mo. -- After years of preparation, Scott County opened a new revenue stream when it began boarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees in the county jail earlier this month.
"Right now, we're holding 10 prisoners," Sheriff Rick Walter said. "This is something that I've wanted for a long time. We've worked toward it, done the paperwork, gone through the inspections, and now we're finally housing them."

Scott County's cost to house inmates is about $35 daily. Because ICE pays $51.60 per detainee per day, the county profits more than $16 each.

After subtracting the costs of housing 10 detainees, the county is slated to make around $5,000 in a month.

Scott County is one of three holding facilities for the St. Louis Immigration and Naturalization Services office. Others are in Montgomery County and Mississippi County. Mississippi County has held detainees since its facility opened in 1999, and at a recent county commission meeting it was reported the county received around $900,000 annually for holding the detainees.

When housing state prisoners, the county pays for any additional needs of the prisoners, such as transport or guards. But that isn't the case with ICE detainees.

"We just bill them and they reimburse us," Walter said.

Jamie Burger, Scott County presiding commissioner, said he's glad to see the detainees finally being housed in the county facility.

"I think any time we can offset our costs, it's a plus," he said. "And looking forward to 2010, with the way things are [in the economy], this is a great additional revenue stream for us."

Walter said there is only a part-time nurse at the jail, but the position should be full-time.

"This may be one way to pay for that," he said.

The extra money may also bring about new jobs for transportion and guards -- at no real cost to the county if those employees devote all their time to the ICE detainees, since those costs are reimbursed.

Walter began looking into housing the detainees when he took office in 2005.

The county filled out paperwork and teams went through the jail to ensure it met all the necessary requirements.

Once things began to come together, changes took place in Homeland Security. In fact, the county began working with Immigration and Naturalization Services, which was brought under the ICE umbrella. The county had to repeat the entire process.

"We lost everything we'd done up to that point since we started working with a whole different department," said Walter.

Once the sheriff's department began getting everything in line again, they were hit with another hurdle. "In 2008 (INS) put a freeze on new contracts across the nation," Walter said. "They said it was for money reasons."

However, Walter said he and his staff kept working to get things in order, so once new contracts were reopened, they would be ready to go.

Yearly inspections will follow.

"Those cost us nothing, and I like having them, because it keeps us more on our toes," Walter said.

Scott County's jail is typically near capacity. Walter has plans in place in case the ICE detainees cause an overflow, especially because they are mostly long-term inmates.

"I can house [the overflow] in Scott City and Chaffee for $25 a day," Walter said.

However, if boarding the detainees becomes an issue for the county because of lack of bed space or other reasons, the jail can pull out at any time.

"We have to take care of ours first," Walter said. "Based on the contract, we can pull out if need be."

As for the county, Burger said he's excited to see where the process leads.

"We have all the tools in order to house them," he said. "I'm sure we're going to do a great job."

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