COUNTIES REACH DEAL ON INMATE HOUSING

A $250,000 pris­oner hous­ing agree­ment between Pauld­ing and Put­nam coun­ties has been signed with both coun­ties ben­e­fit­ting.

Under the mem­o­ran­dum of under­stand­ing between the two coun­ties, Pauld­ing County will pay Put­nam County $250,000 annu­ally through Dec. 31, 2015, to house pris­on­ers as long as Pauld­ing County’s jail doesn’t reopen.

Pauld­ing County’s jail closed in 2008 because of finan­cial con­straints fol­low­ing the defeat of an oper­at­ing levy renewal in that county.

Under the terms of the deal, Put­nam County will get $250,000 annu­ally regard­less of the num­ber of inmates housed.

Pay­ments of $62,500 quar­terly will be made.

Through Sep­tem­ber, the Pauld­ing County Sheriff’s Office has paid $280,297.20 to house pris­on­ers out of county and the county has already paid approx­i­mately $300,000 in 2013. That fig­ure does not include trans­porta­tion costs, med­ical costs or other mis­cel­la­neous expenses.