TEXARKANA, Ark. -- Following weeks of negotiations, Miller County Quorum Court members agreed Monday to accept a Texarkana, Arkansas, city offer to help pay for municipal juvenile detention inside the county's Lantz Lurry Juvenile Detention Center.
Quorum Court members accepted an interlocal agreement with the city for an $80 per inmate per day municipal contribution to help off set a current $250 per juvenile inmate per day county expense.
The county's JDC holds an average of 10 to 32 juveniles at a given time, with about 80% of them being city inmates and 20% county inmates.
The city's $80 contribution toward reducing the county's contribution to $170 will afford the county nearly a 30% cost relief -- at least until the end of this year.
Miller County Judge Cathy Harrison said that since both the county and city have calendar year budgets, both will be working on their own individual budgets starting in September. This schedule will leave the $80 deal in place, at least until early next year.
Besides the city's $80 contribution, county officials are also looking at the city reimbursing the county retroactively back to January, once this year ends.
In other business, Quorum Court members approved re-allocating money budgeted for the recently disbanded Pleasant Hill Fire Department.
The funds, which amount to about $151,800, will be distributed among six of the county's other fire departments. Those six include: the Mandeville, Doddridge, Bright Star, Genoa, Satellite and Trinity volunteer fire stations.