The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday said the Jefferson County Quorum Court was acting within their authority when they adopted an ordinance imposing a fee for each inmate received at the country jail from a city or agency within the county.
The court rejected an argument from the City of Pine Bluff claiming the county should be required to follow an agreement that guaranteed the city a fixed number of jail beds. That agreement expired in 2008 but a provision calling for the city and count to meet and discuss setting a fee for bed space if the city exceeded its agreed upon limit.
This lawsuit had its roots in a 1993 contract between the county and city which called for the county to add 32 beds to the jail it operated as part of the Department of Corrections Pine Bluff Unit. The City agreed to lease 24 of those beds and to pay the count $24,900 per month over the 24-month term of the lease.
In 2004, the County sued the city for breach of contract and the City countersued.
That lawsuit was settled when the City agreed to make payments for the 24 beds and also agreed to pay $8,000 a month to hold juveniles at the Jack Jones Juvenile Detention Center.
Those payments stopped in December 2008 when a new agreement was reached for bed space at both facilities and an agreement was reached providing that Pine Bluff would receive 75 beds when the new adult detention center on East 2nd Avenue was opened. The City would have access to additional beds allocated to other agencies of those beds were not being used.
That agreement also called for the City and County to meet to determine a proper fee if Pine Bluff was using more than their 75 beds. Because of that agreement, Pine Bluff has paid nothing for housing its prisoners since December 2008, at which time the agreement expired.
Following two hearings in 2022, Special Judge David Laser ruled that the county was correct and said there was no agreement between the City and County when the ordinance was passed, and Pine Bluff appealed his decision to the Court of Appeals.
When the lawsuit was filed in 2021, Jefferson County contended that Pine Bluff owed $191,210 in unpaid monthly bills.
Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson will be on the Oldies 1013 Morning Show Thursday at 8:05 a.m. to discuss the lawsuit.
