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County could pay detention center deficit
Published 11:52 a.m., November 2, 2009
Otter Tail County could be asked to pay $46,000 as its share of a deficit at the West Central Regional Juvenile Center in Moorhead.
While Clay County has agreed to cover the deficit so far this year, counties who are members of the juvenile center will be asked to pay the deficit for the last quarter of 2009 if they adopt a new agreement.
Due to the county’s out-of-home placement costs being lower than budgeted, the county is able to cover the $46,000 cost, Probation Director Chuck Kitzman said at the Otter Tail County Board meeting Tuesday.
When asked by Commissioner Doug Huebsch if that was a reasonable price, Kitzman replied that the county doesn’t have $46,000 worth of juveniles at the facility.
To eliminate a deficit in 2010, member counties are being asked to vacate their existing agreement and adopt a new agreement in its place. The new agreement requires counties to purchase a certain amount of beds in the detention center ahead of time.
The county board is expected to approve or oppose the agreement at its Nov. 10 meeting. The commissioners have agreed to purchase 2.5 beds per day. The county’s average usage is 2.31 beds per day.
The total number of beds to be purchased is 18.5, although the number of juveniles sent to the center averages about 14 per day, Kitzman said. So far, counties have agreed to purchase nearly 17 beds.
County Coordinator Larry Krohn noted that the purchasing of beds will allow them to see which counties aren’t fulfilling their number of beds and where the deficit problem lies.
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The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post. To post a comment you will need to register. Or, if you're already registered but have not included your true, verifiable identity with your registration, you will need to update your account to include your identity. Effective Dec. 1, 2009, all posts appear with the commenter's true identity, which must be verified by site staff. Those who registered prior to Dec. 1, 2009, should be aware that once you update your information with your true identity, all prior posts under your user name will also indicate your true identity. If you do not wish to link yourself to prior comments, you should register again with a different user name.Posted by The_Fighting_Otter (anonymous) on November 3, 2009 at 12:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I say let the Detention facility compete for our business. Don't pay anything if we don't have that much in need for it. There are plenty of other Juvenile Detention Facilities around. Brainerd has one, Willmar, Catholic Charities right here in town. I don't know why we waste our money on one specific Detention facility. make them compete for our business.
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