Sheriff Rose vows to look for lower jail housing costs

The Olmsted County Board voted 4-3 last Tuesday to increase the boarding fee for the Olmsted County Detention Center from $75 to $323 per day per detainee, forcing Dodge County to look elsewhere for detention services.
“At a daily rate of $323 per inmate, Dodge County simply cannot justify continuing this contract when comparable detention services are available elsewhere at a substantially lower cost,” wrote Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose in a letter.
The more than four-fold increase in boarding fee comes after Olmsted County board members questioned the fees associated with boarding inmates from Dodge County not fully covering the costs of board.
“I don’t think the people in my district want to subsidize some other county for less than that,” said Gregg Wright, Olmsted County Commissioner at the meeting.
Dodge County is one of eight Minnesota counties that does not have its own jail and therefore contracts out detention services with other county jails using a per diem pay structure.
The previous rate of $75 was set by the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association (MSA), and has increased several times in recent years to cover ballooning detention costs.
Previously, Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose characterized this rate as not meant to completely cover the cost of detention, but to supplement a jail that has extra empty beds.
“These rates were never meant to cover operating costs — they are rates used to supplement beds that would otherwise be open and not used,” Rose wrote in an email to the DCI in June.
This spike in per diem rates was opposed by both Rose and Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson who both supported a per diem increase to $100.
“We are deeply disappointed with the decision of four of our commissioners. Proposing an additional $332 increase was only intended to drive Dodge County away,” wrote Torgerson in a Facebook Post.
Torgerson echoed Rose’s characterization of the per diem fee in his post writing, “At the $100 fee Olmsted County would continue to incur minimal costs but no increases to staffing, medical, or other subsequent costs because they were in our facility. Now there will be empty cells and no revenue.”
Despite giving notice of plans to end the contract, Rose praised the Olmsted County Jail staff and sheriff’s office for their past cooperation, writing, “Although I am disappointed that we were unable to continue the successful partnership our agencies have enjoyed of the past four years, I remain grateful to Sheriff Torgerson and the staff of the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center for their professionalism and cooperation throughout our working relationship.”
According to the letter, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office has already been in contact with several other counties that might house Dodge County detainees at a lower rate including Goodhue, Mower, Wabasha and Rice.