Wadena County is in the driver's seat when it comes to negotiating rates for out-of-county inmate boarding, according to Sheriff Mike Carr.
The county recently secured a $9 decrease in the daily per prisoner cost to board inmates in Hubbard and Crow Wing counties when the Wadena County Jail is full, he said. The county will pay $46 rather than the previous rate of $55 a day for beds.
Carr estimates the new rate will save the county about $26,000 this year.
The new cost is even better than a $50 rate Carr worked on getting with the counties last year.
Carr said commissioners in Crow Wing and Hubbard counties are pretty upset with the big jails in their counties. The other counties say it isn't the building but the staff they can't afford, he said.
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The Crow Wing County Sheriff initiated the reduced-rate offer and Carr in turn contacted Hubbard.
"Since we've been dealing with Hubbard County I thought it only fair to call up and talk to them," he said.
Within two hours Hubbard responded that they would match the new rate, he said.
The county had 3,900 out-of-county prisoner days last year, Carr said.
"Last year if we would have had this kind of a deal set up we would have saved $35,000," he said.
Commissioner Bill Stearns said the out-of-county boarding budget is still fairly tight. Stearns has criticized the sheriff's department for conservative budget estimates in this area the past several years.
