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Scott County jails to house immigration inmates beginning in SeptemberFriday, July 11, 2008Starting in September, the Scott County Jail will begin to house federal immigration inmates, Sheriff Rick Walter said at a Thursday meeting of the county commission. The new housing will begin Sept. 30, Walter said. The jail has 120 beds but is nearly at maximum capacity, and Walter said plans are being secured to handle any overflow. Chaffee Municipal Jail and Scott City Municipal Jail could both house state inmates for Scott County if need be, at rates of $25 per day, but $22 of that would be covered by the state, Walter said. The federal inmates would stay at a fairly high rate of turnover because the court proceedings move at a fairly good clip. "They won't be there very long," Walter said. Even though other jails could accommodate overflow, Walter said temporary housing can be purchased if necessary. Also discussed at the meeting was a notice sent by Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force director Kevin Glaser to Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger, that the use of a vehicle for undercover purposes was being discontinued. Glaser wrote that he had hoped providing a vehicle to the sheriff's department would "bolster a working relationship and a cooperative effort towards a common goal of effective narcotics enforcement." The cooperative effort had not materialized, Glaser said. In 13 years, the drug task force has intitiated 845 drug investigations in Scott County alone, the letter said. Glaser cited budget constraints as the reason for pulling the vehicle, saying it would be brought back into the unit and used by either the task force or any of the the other law enforcement agencies that participate in narcotics investigations with the task force. "As I am sure you are aware, the purchase, operation and upkeep of vehicles is a costly item in any department's budget," Glaser wrote. Walter said he felt a little guilty about having the vehicle for so long, especially since other jurisdictions didn't have an undercover vehicle to use with narcotics investigations. "It's not going to put us in a bind," Walter said. The vehicle's usefulness as an undercover car had run its course, since it was beginning to be widely recognized in the area as such, he said. "We're looking to save our dollars any way we can, fuel costs are just killing us," Burger said. While the car was used by the sheriff's department, Scott County paid for the gas, insurance and minor repairs on the vehicle, Walter said. 335-6611, extension 245 Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
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An interesting article. We are at near capacity so we are taking on addition inmates so we can transport to other facilities and pay them to keep our prisinors. It did not work before and it won't work now. The cost of additional law suits to our insurance (which has a $5000.00 deductible per case)thats payable even if you win,the cost of fuel and man hours and risk. This is not cost effective or good business, but it does sound good in election year. Key sentences in Glasers letter"the cooperative effort had not materialized" taxpayers don't be fooled..
It is an interesting article. What it does not say is the substantial difference in the cost to house the local prisoners in Chaffee and Scott City and what the sheriff, and therefore the county will be paid by the federal government. It makes good business sense to do it. There is a positive difference and it is not a trivial sum.
By the way, when did Scott County ever house FEDERAL prisoners before? I didn't think this had ever been done in Scott County. Another first by the sheriff?
Of course, I understand that federal auditors have to be allowed access to certain books concerning finances. I am sure Sheriff Walter has no objection.
As far as cooperation between the task force and the sheriff's department...there is probably more to that story as well.
Instead of trying to turn every story into an election year story you should consider having your candidate state his positive aspects. These stories have been running for 4 years now, not just since the candidates filed for the office. Why replace a sheriff that has had a positive impact on crime, has upgraded the equipment and ability of his officers, has provided 24 hour coverage, and has returned more money to the taxpayers of Scott County than any sheriff in the history of the office. Why try to fix something that isn't broken? What will your candidate do that is different? I honestly would like to know.
Does this mean the inmates will have burritos and tacos on a more regular basis now?