The Cobb County Board of Commissioners has been asked to approve a Housing Intergovernmental Agreement to house detainees at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center who are arrested in the City of Kennesaw on charges and who will appear before the City of Kennesaw Municipal Court for city ordinance violations.

Here is the Background section of the agenda item for this Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.

The City of Kennesaw has requested that the Cobb County Sheriff house inmates at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center who are arrested on charges and will appear before the City of Kennesaw Municipal Court for city ordinance violations. The attached agreement is similar to the inmate housing agreements with the cities of Marietta, Austell, and Powder Springs. The City of Kennesaw will be responsible for a per diem based upon the actual cost of housing city inmates as determined each year by the Sheriff, County Finance Director, and City Finance Director. The per diem for Kennesaw inmates will start at $55.00, until January 1, 2023, when it will be adjusted to reflect actual costs incurred. While the per diem will include the cost of in-house medical treatment provided at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, the City will be responsible for any outside or emergency medical treatment for their prisoners. Additionally, the City will be responsible for all transport (other than emergency transport) of its prisoners and for any lawsuits that may arise related to the City’s prisoners.

In order to pay the per diem and any outside or emergency medical costs incurred by the City’s prisoners, state law allows an extra 10% penalty (County Jail Construction and Staffing Fine) to be added to fines imposed by the City of Kennesaw Municipal Court once the attached Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and Resolution are adopted by the County Board of Commissioners. If the funding generated by the municipal court is insufficient to pay the per diem and medical costs of the City’s prisoners, the City will pay the difference from other available sources. The Inmate Housing Agreement and Resolution were drafted and reviewed by the County Attorney’s Office.

The Intergovernmental Agreement is expected to have no impact on the Cobb County or Sheriff’s Office budget, since the per diem will be received then adjusted to reflect the actual cost.

The item is on the BOC’s consent agenda, so it is expected to pass without opposition or discussion on the board.