Blackshear will be allowed to house inmates at the Pierce County for $45 per day.
The Board of Commissioners, with input from Sheriff Ramsey Bennett, agreed in principle to the deal at a called meeting of commission last Tuesday night.
A formal agreement will still have to be drawn up and approved by the commission, but that is expected to be in place by the county’s regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 7.
Blackshear Mayor Keith Brooks and Blackshear Police Chief Chris Wright asked commissioners and the sheriff to allow the city to house inmates at the county jail at the same rate he allows other counties to house their inmates there.
“Pierce is the only county where the sheriff doesn’t have an agreement with the municipalities to house their inmates,” said Chief Wright. “All we are asking is to be treated the same as everybody else.”
The inmate housing issue has been debated since December, 2020 and was the subject of a lawsuit by the city against Sheriff Ramsey Bennett in early 2021. A judge ruled the sheriff was bound by law to take city inmates, but left open the cost to be worked out between the governments.
The city has offered $45 per day, but the sheriff had asked for $62 per day, which he says is closer to the per day cost of housing an inmate.
Blackshear has alleged that Sheriff Bennett allows other counties to house inmates at the Pierce County Jail for the $45 per day rate.
A meeting between the mayor, sheriff, chief and county manager in January was believed to have resolved the issue, but no action was taken at the county’s February regular meeting which let to the called meeting last week.
Wright pointed out he believes the impasse and disagreement is “pure politics”.
“These problems didn’t exist before the 2020 sheriff’s race,” said Wright.
Sheriff Bennett fended off a strong challenge from Major Robby Boatright of the Blackshear Police Department in the 2020 sheriff’s election.
In public comments, Tony Walsh, Chairman of the Pierce County Republican Party, asked for everyone to get along.
“The squabbles have got to stop,” he declared. “We have to do what is best for the people. Just do the right thing.”
There was little debate and little disagreement at the meeting, however.
The sheriff did not respond to Wright’s claims and said only that the old agreement had to be terminated, because there was no clause for re-negotiating the inmate jail fee without doing so.
Bennett had Waycross attorney Rick Currie with him and Currie reviewed the proposed agreement from the city. He said the sheriff would accept the agreement with a few minor changes.
The new agreement will include a clause that allows both governments to re-negotiate the agreement as needed.
The city will be allowed to house its inmates at the Pierce County Jail at the $45 for the first day and a $35.86 daily rate for each additional day. The city will also have a two hour grace period for inmates booked at midnight.
