The Mississippi County Quorum Court Justices passed a resolution Tuesday recommending the county take legal actions to collect the more than $600,000 owed for jail fees by the city of Blytheville.
According to the resolution brought before the Justices Tuesday night, the city has failed to make any type of regular payments to the county for jail fees owed for several months; still owing fees for all of 2012 and a large portion of 2011, according to county attorney Dan Ritchey.
The resolution pointed out that the county has made reasonable efforts to work with the city of Blytheville to receive some form of regular payment; however, the city's failure to pay anything on these fees has negatively affected the county's fiscal state and has impaired the county government's ability to properly serve the county's citizens. According to Justice Michael White, head of the Financial Committee, this has gone on long enough.
"We have beat this horse to death," said White. "And I think it is in our due process and our due responsibility for us to press on with this issue."
Ritchey, who said this is a last-ditch effort to collect money from the city, expects the charges to be filed sometime within the next 10 days. After that, the city will have 30 days to respond. Things are expected to move fairly smooth once the process gets started, according to Ritchey, who said that to his knowledge, Blytheville Mayor James Sanders fully agrees that the city owes the county money and doesn't foresee a struggle over the issue.
Once the case appears before a judge, if the judgment is against Blytheville, the city will have to pay the determined amount or face property seizure and account garnishment.
The biggest holdup in the case, according to both Ritchey and White, could be discrepancies between the city and the county for the actual amount owed by the city of Blytheville for jail fees. No one at the meeting had an exact figure, but the resolution stated the city of Blytheville owes more than $600,000 in unpaid jail fees.
Despite failure to pay on jail fees, White said the city is in much better shape on its landfill fees after owing $231,526.64 in the month of April. White said the city is current on its landfill fees up to the most recent statement issued.
The Court also passed ordinances to appropriate or modify funds for the county sanitation and landfill department, county-wide economic development and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
cpinkard@blythevillecourier.com