A motion was passed in this week's Quorum Court budgeting meeting for the county to again take legal action against the city of Blytheville over past due jail fees.
During their budgeting process for 2014, county financial management estimated that $300,000 in jail fee payments would come in over the course of the year. However, discussion among county officials about legal action filed by the city to have the term "municipal prisoner" redefined, the decision was revoked and the money removed from the budget, because there was no guarantee any payment would be made. In addition to that, the city has not made any payments on its 2013 accruing fees, except the month of January.
According to Finance Committee Chairman Justice Michael White, the jail cannot make budget without the income expected from the city. The county was holding back on legal action because it was under the impression that a suit had already been filed by the city. However, County Attorney Dan Ritchey recently told White that no request for declaratory judgment has yet been filed. The city is not paying 2013 jail fees based on advice from a Municipal League attorney.
"All this time we had been operating under the thought that the city had filed some kind of legal action against us, they had been advised by their attorneys not to pay because of this request for a declaratory judgment about what a municipal prisoner is," he said. "But Dan Ritchey came to me and said that they have not filed any legal action at this point. Last month, he tried to initiate something with the Municipal League attorney, who then sent him a letter back requesting that we accept a new definition of 'municipal prisoner' -- we've already been there and done that with the city several years ago. Under the previous administration, we went to court with them over this very thing, and a circuit court judge ruled in our favor. It's a little bit frustrating because we've already done this, it's already been determined in court, and this new administration doesn't have the legislative memory. They're just following the advice of an attorney in Little Rock that has no stake in the welfare of Mississippi County."
The city's request may take the form of one that would ask that a judge define "municipal prisoner" as a person who is arrested based on violation of a municipal code -- which is something that rarely, if ever, happens. White said the judge's decision in the first lawsuit over the issue basically defined a municipal prisoner as one who is arrested and adjudicated in the Blytheville system.
With the new knowledge that no legal action has actually been filed on the part of the city, the county is taking action by consulting with its attorney on how best to legally pursue collection of bad debt. They also made the decision to stop any payments being made to Blytheville until the issue is resolved. The motion passed states that the county will "bring legal action against the City of Blytheville to collect past due jail fees for 2013 and escrow anything [they] write a check to Blytheville for until the situation is resolved." Based on this decision, the $300,000 in expected revenue for the jail was placed back into next year's budget for that facility, making it clear the red by only just over $80.
"We have law in place," said White. "They are being charged for their municipal prisoners on a daily basis, and they're getting bills on a monthly basis, they're just ignoring them. From our standpoint, they've done nothing but just refuse to pay a bill that we feel they legally owe. We don't have any other recourse except to pursue all means necessary to get them to pay their bill. Since they've not filed legal action, we're asking our attorney what the next step should be. We honestly need the money to make the jail run. Blytheville is making all of its arrears payments, but we have to have the money they are currently accruing as debt."
White said the city's attorney recently sent a letter requesting that the county accept a daily fee per prisoner of $28, as opposed to the $55 which is written in the ordinance. This is the amount which the state reimburses the county for Arkansas prisoners; however, White said this number was set 12 years ago and has not been revisited since. The Arkansas Association of Counties recently issued a letter stating that the average cost of keeping a county prisoner across the state is $53 per day. He estimated that Mississippi County's local numbers average around $60 per day.
The budget committee meets again on Monday, and members hope to have word from Ritchey regarding their next step in taking legal action to collect.
According to Blytheville City Councilman Tommy Abbott, who chairs the city's Finance and Purchasing Committee, the city is aware that the request for judgment has not yet been filed, and said the Municipal League may file within the next few weeks.
"I talked to Mike Mosley earlier this week and he has been trying to put the suit together, to bring other communities into the lawsuit with us," Abbott said.
Regarding the legal action being pursued by the county, Abbott said he did not have a comment, that it is all part of the process in resolving this issue, and that the city just "wants to get this thing settled once and for all."
Municipal League attorney Michael Mosley told the CN that he couldn't offer a specific timeline, but said that the suit is currently in the pre-litigation stage. Mosley added that he has spoken to other cities about joining the suit, but none have joined at this time.
Blytheville Mayor James Sanders could not be reached for comment on the issue before presstime today (Friday).
sharris@blythevillecourier.com