Taylor Council Tables Decision On Paying Jail Fees Assessed By County

“This discussion took place extensively last year,” said Taylor Town Manager Eric Duthie at the March 7 council meeting. “Great consternation occurred out of this discussion.”

Duthie explained that initially, when Navajo County proposed this, there was a threat of the transfer of prisoner shifts from state prisons to county jails. In other words, an inmate with one year and one day left to serve would be sent back to the county jail to complete that sentence. “That since has gone away,” said Duthie.

Another problem was that federal prisoners were being housed in the county jail under a contract with the county, but that was discontinued and the loss of that money has taken a toll on county jail funding.

Duthie went on to explain that after many studies of what it would cost to house a prisoner, county officials proposed charging a one-time booking fee of $50, a daily non-routine medical fee of $10 and a daily fee of $68.41. The first day would cost $128.41 and each day after that would cost $60.

“That was negotiated,” said Duthie, noting that cities and towns in the county were united in that they refused to participate; however, one by one, each of the other communities reconsidered, and now Taylor is the only community that has not approved paying these fees.

“It’s not in the budget,” said Duthie. He explained that several months ago the Snowflake Town Council approved paying the fees for Snowflake and Taylor, though the vote was not unanimous. As of February, the Town of Snowflake had paid $9,100 to the county.

Duthie said that Snowflake, the fiduciary agent of the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department, disputed the first billing the town received, and after a lot of research, Police Chief Jerry VanWinkle found there were significant and serious problems with the accounting. “Those issues have been resolved,” said Duthie, noting that the $9,100 is not disputed.

This amount is 50 percent of the rate proposed, because county officials agreed to charge cities and towns 50 percent until 2014.

“The Snowflake council is concerned that we’re going to leave them hanging on this,” said Mayor Fay Hatch, noting that only incorporated areas of the county are stuck with this fee.

“Why did Snowflake agree to this without us coming together?” asked Councilman Jared Hatch, noting that because police service is provided by the towns under an intergovernmental agreement, the two councils should have discussed this. “Why did they move forward without bringing us along?”

Duthie said that Snowflake Town Manager Paul Watson contacted him to say it was on the agenda, and asked for an idea of what Taylor’s response would be. “I told him Taylor had been very specific about not allocating these funds and it was not in the budget,” said Duthie.

“It sounds to me like Snowflake has committed themselves to paying the bill,” said Councilman Shawn Palmer.

Town Attorney Sterling Solomon explained the jail charge is for housing those who have committed misdemeanors in Snowflake and Taylor.

“The county was saying they’re going to close the doors if you don’t start paying,” said Solomon, who worked on this issue with Winslow City Attorney Dale Patton. “We think it’s a constitutional issue that defends the right to travel.”

Another issue to look at is the impact on Taylor’s sister city, Snowflake, said Solomon.

Duthie said that Navajo County paid for a legal opinion from attorneys who are seen as experts in this field, and if cities refuse to pay, the county may go to court to recover the costs of housing those inmates.

There was concern about the numbers, because this item was not in the budget and there was not a definitive amount.

Chief VanWinkle explained that the $9,100 covered bookings since July 1, 2011. He further noted that they have made some changes, such as how DUIs are handled. Initially, all DUI offenders were taken to jail, they would see a judge the next morning and were generally released, but when they came back and pleaded guilty, there is a mandatory jail sentence, so they are now charged for two bookings.

In response to a question from Councilman Gary Solomon regarding the ratio of payment by the two towns, Duthie said that it hadn’t been discussed, but it would probably be the 55 percent to 45 percent ratio that is in the intergovernmental agreement.

“It’s just going to accumulate on us,” commented Councilman Solomon.

“Legally, I think you’d prevail,” said the town attorney. “I believe you’d prevail. With that said, they’ve turned a legal issue into a political football that makes relationships with your sister city here strained.”

In response to a question posed by Councilman Alan Ramage, Attorney Solomon said that there is a jail fee contract, but Taylor has not signed it.

“I think somebody needs to stand up or we’re all going to be in it for 100 years,” said Ramage.

Duthie reminded the council that in the beginning, “All municipalities in Navajo County said no way, no how, we’re not going to do that. Everyone was agreeing. Now we stand alone,” and if this did go to court, Taylor would have to pay the legal fees.

“I don’t agree with it, I don’t like it, I don’t think it’s fair, but the question is do we go ahead and pay the bill?” Mayor Hatch asked the council.

“There are two issues,” said Attorney Solomon. “What happens if we decide to fight it out? You have a relationship with the county and a relationship with your neighbor that are possibly compromised to some extent.” The other is if you do approve payment, you are not signing the contract. “You’re in a tough position.”

“One more possibility is… go ahead and approve these payments when they can be budgeted in the upcoming budget,” said Mayor Hatch.

“I think the proper way to word it would be to decline it tonight and if we have financing available in a later budget, we would go ahead and approve it,” suggested Palmer.

“From staff’s standpoint, we have stood against this and we continue to stand against it and we think it is wrong,” said Duthie. “We will not advocate a position one way or another.” Duthie suggested an option would be to take more time and think about it, stating, “They’re (Snowflake) not beating at the door saying we want it right now.”

Palmer moved to disapprove the Navajo County jail fees charged to the Town of Snowflake on behalf of the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department. The motion failed in a 3-3 vote, with Palmer, Mayor Hatch and Solomon voting for the motion, and Vice Mayor Jane Lee, Councilman Jared Hatch and Ramage voting against it.

Ramage expressed concern that if Taylor denies payment, its prisoners will be treated differently than those of other towns.

“The county doesn’t know that, because Snowflake is paying our portion,” said Vice Mayor Lee. “It’s Snowflake that we’re not paying.”

A motion to table the item passed unanimously.