The Navajo County Board of Supervisors convened a Special Board meeting to consider an agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which would allow the Sheriff’s Office to house inmates from the tribal communities in the County’s adult detention facility. Sheriff KC Clark, County Attorney Brad Carlyon, have been working with the BIA, to finalize this agreement, and upon hearing that the final details were complete, Chairman Jesse Thompson asked the Board to meet and consider the proposal.
“This is a win-win for the tribal communities and the County,” said Sheriff KC Clark. “Before this agreement was in place, families and friends were forced to travel tremendous distances to see their loved ones who have found their way into custody. One of the most important things for a person who is trying to restructure their life is a good support system, and this agreement goes a long way to improve their chances.”
The BIA will receive detention services for housing of adult inmates that have been arrested and waiting for transport, those that are awaiting adjudication, those that are serving sentences and/or awaiting release and those that have been convicted of tribal violations.
The agreement approved by the Board will run from now through 2019. The agreement provides for requirements related to the transportation of prisoners, their medical care, and other items like substance abuse programs for prisoners, and other issues related to the detention.
When asked about the possible fiscal impact to the County with an agreement like this, the Sheriff indicated that there will be a positive outlook. “The agreement provides for up to 100 inmates per day,” said Sheriff Clark. “Based on preliminary estimates, if the County were to house 50 inmates per day over one year, the partnership would generate just over $1 million for the County’s General Fund. Of course, the full 100 inmates per day would generate about $2 million annually. If inmates were to begin being housed by November 1, eight months of revenues could be somewhere between $664,000 to $1,328,000 in FY15. It will really depend on how many inmates we are asked to take on.”