Skamania County would house up to 15 Clark County inmates to clear some bed space
By Kaitlin Gillespie
Published: February 17, 2015, 12:00am
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A man is booked into the Clark County Jail in November. The sheriff's offices in Clark and Skamania counties are working on a contract that would send some inmates from the Clark County Jail to the Skamania County Jail.
A budding partnership between the sheriff’s offices in Clark and Skamania counties would ease budgetary pressures on Clark County’s eastern neighbor while clearing bed space locally for more inmates.
“We reached out to them in a good neighbor partnership,” Clark County Jail Chief Ric Bishop said.
Beginning early this spring, the sheriff’s office would lease 15 beds in the Skamania County Jail at a price of $55 per inmate per day, according to budget estimates by Darin Rouhier, finance manager for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. The arrangement is awaiting approval by Clark County councilors.
Clark County would only use the Skamania beds when the Department of Corrections taps the local jail for bed space. Clark County receives $81.67 dollars per inmate per day for housing DOC offenders, and would use the additional revenue to pay for leasing beds at the Skamania County Jail.
“It’s not like we’re going to spend money and not get the revenue to cover it,” Rouhier said. “It’s only if we get the revenue and those extra inmates.”
The agreement could allow Clark County to turn up to a $123,792.30 profit on the additional DOC offenders in 2015 and $147,661 in 2016, Rouhier estimated. That’s on top of Clark County’s average $2 million in revenue from the DOC for housing at least 67 offenders in the jail each day.
Skamania County, meanwhile, would receive $252,450 in 2015 and $301,125 in 2016 in the deal, which Sheriff Dave Brown says would protect at least two jobs at the Skamania County Jail.
“I think from everybody’s standpoint it’s a win-win,” Brown said.
Last October, Skamania County declared a state of emergency, citing mismanagement of federal forestland as the reason for the county’s crippling budget deficit. The sheriff’s office was forced to cut $720,000 from its budget this year, resulting in the immediate layoff and early retirement of six employees, Brown said.
Brown acknowledged that the revenue may “ebb and flow” depending on how many inmates Clark County sends over, but said as long as at least 10 beds are filled each day, those employees’ jobs would be secured.
Clark County, meanwhile, has seen significant growth in the average daily jail population, Bishop said. While average jail population in the last five years have dropped about 5 percent statewide, Clark County’s has increased by about 10 percent, from 685 inmates to 761.
Though the agreement only covers 15 beds, Skamania County can accept more inmates if needed, Brown said. Currently, the jail houses about 28 people a day in its 50-bed facility.
The agreement would also allow the jails to provide better resources to inmates from Skamania County, Bishop said. Inmates or DOC offenders with addresses or family in Skamania County or eastern Clark County would be given priority on those leased beds, making it easier for their families to visit them.
The Clark County councilors would have to sign off on the proposal and likely will in early March once the contract between the two offices is complete, Bishop said.
During a council board time earlier this month, Clark County Councilor David Madore gave the offices his full support.
“We want to be your cheerleaders,” Madore told members from both sheriff’s offices.
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