Mercer County Terminates Jail Agreement With Boyle County
File Photo: Kentucky State Seal in the courtroom at Mercer County Fiscal Courthouse.
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
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The Mercer County Fiscal Court is terminating the jail agreement with Boyle County. At their regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25, the fiscal court also approved entering an agreement with Nelson County to house Mercer inmates. That agreement is contingent on County Attorney Ted Dean working out issues about the language in the contract with the Nelson County attorney.
In December 2023, the fiscal court voted to end the interlocal agreement with Boyle County and enter a new contract to house Mercer inmates at Boyle County Detention Center. Mercer inmates are also being housed at Woodford County Detention Center in Versailles.
Dean said the renewal date for the contract with Boyle was coming up on July 1, and if Mercer took no action, it would renew automatically.
After an executive session on Tuesday, Magistrates Kevin Hicks and Tim Darland moved to terminate the agreement. The motion passed unanimously.
There were approximately 22 inmates at Boyle County Detention Center on Tuesday, according to Dean. Boyle currently charges $65 per day per inmate plus medical costs. The agreement with Boyle also requires Mercer to keep at least 20 inmates at Boyle County Detention Center.
Neither Mercer County Judge-Executive Sarah Steele nor Dean would say why Mercer was terminating the agreement.
“In the contract it says you don’t have to give a reason,” Dean said.
He was asked if Mercer would renegotiate the agreement with Boyle.
“Everything’s on the table,” Dean said.
During the meeting, Judge Steele said Nelson County would charge $32 per day per inmate plus medical expenses while Woodford County is currently charging $46 per inmate per day plus medical costs.
“I do think it’s a good idea to continue to have a backup agreement,” Steele said.
Dean said he wanted to clarify some language in the agreement with Nelson, including requiring at least 30 days before the agreement could be terminated and adding an indemnification clause.
“It shouldn’t take too much to get where we need it to be,” Dean told the court.
Magistrate Dennis Holiday asked if they should table the agreement until Dean had finished with the contract, but Judge Steele said Mercer has inmates that need to moved. Steele said Mercer is averaging 50 inmates this year, which she called a “huge increase” over the past few years.
Nelson can take at least 10 inmates, Mercer County Jailer Bret “Chambo” Chamberlain said Tuesday. He said it only takes about 15 minutes more to transport inmates to Nelson. Chamberlain said Nelson and Woodford would work with Mercer if they needed to move a lot of inmates quickly. Magistrates Darland and Hicks moved to accept the contract with Nelson County with the language Dean felt appropriate. The motion passed unanimously.
