Randall County Commissioners’ Court/Screenshot via Randall County
Approval of an amended agreement proposed by the City of Amarillo has not made its way onto the agenda for the next Randall County Commissioners’ Court meeting.
Last year, the county pulled out of an existing agreement with the city where the city was paying the county to use up to 68 beds a night at a rate of $75 per night. Both sides had expressed that they had disagreements with the agreement. While Randall County felt the price was too low, the city realized it was paying for more beds than it was using, with the city only utilizing an average of 17 beds per night.
Earlier this month, Amarillo City Council unanimously proposed a new agreement, where the city would increase the per night fee paid to $100 and would additionally give the county a $200 booking fee per inmate. Under the new proposal, while the city would be paying more per bed, they would only pay for the beds actually used. This may be a sticking point for the county, which had been asking for a $95 per night fee with a minimum guaranteed amount of beds.
The proposal, which requires approval from Randall County, was not included on the agenda for the Commissioners’ Court meeting set to take place on Tuesday.
With Randall County having given notice last year that it was pulling out of the current agreement, the clock is ticking until the agreement officially expires in May.
The agenda for the January 23rd meeting can be downloaded at this link.