Public Comment from 5/13/2020

In a response to a prior public comment question, the Administration said that the costs of holding ICE Detainees in ECCF exactly matched the revenue associated with that contract with ICE. Building on that information, the net impact of the ICE contract to the County in terms of budget, other programs the ICE money allows us to provide, even services within the Jail made possible by the ICE contract would be precisely zero.
So requesting a formal response:
1. Please enumerate the benefits to the County and it’s residents by participating in the ICE contract?
2. What would change for the County and residents if there was no ICE contract?
3. Would there actually be savings from ending the contract? Some fixed costs associated with the facility remain constant while servicing the contract no matter if the County is being paid for only a small number of Detainees. Would mothballing the dorms used solely for ICE Detainees actually save the County money?
4. How much, if any, money from the ICE daily rate is being set aside to handle payouts for civil settlements in which the County is liable for the treatment of Detainees while housed at ECCF?
5. Have any of the costs changed due to COVID-19? For example are guards receiving hazard pay? Is there an increase in overtime due to guards being sick or quarantined? There’s now a private ambulance contract providing backup for hospital transports. Does ICE or the County cover un-budgeted expenses related to housing Detainees?
6. Please share the financial analysis that was used to determine the ICE rate that shows that ice is paying the full cost per detainee with no excess or shortage to the County.