Letter to the Editor

Local resident claims county will have to fund $6 per detainee in expansion

Sunday, November 14, 2021

To the Editor:

The Libertarian Party of Clay County opposes the proposed expansion of the Clay County Jail.

The expansion, with a price tag of $25 million, is being built to house ICE detainees in which you the taxpayer will most likely be ultimately responsible for. The cost to house 1 detainee per day costs $61 while the Federal Government only pays $55, so the taxpayers will have to foot the $6 negative difference per detainee.

ICE makes no guarantees as to how many detainees will be held especially when there are approximately 29,000 beds nationwide for 22,000 detainees. In the past ICE pulled out of agreements and funding with a detention facility in Kenosha, Wisc., because the sheriff said they would not house any new detainees due to COVID.

Why would anyone want their hard-earned money used to pay for a facility at the cost of $25 million and have the possibility of ICE pulling out and leaving us to entirely fund it?

This facility does not look to be the cash flow some are saying.

The LPCC feels that $25 million to house detainees can be used in better ways like funding programs for substance abuse, homelessness, and family reunification.

Contact your Clay County Commissioner at 812-448-9008 and tell them you are against the use of taxpayer money to fund the building.

— Jesse Killion, Brazil