Dallas will delay its first installment of an $8.7 million payment to Dallas County for jail services by at least a month after council members raised concerns about the contract and persistent problems at the downtown detention facility.
The payment, which covers housing and processing for Dallas prisoners from this month until next September, faced opposition led by council member Cara Mendelsohn. At a council meeting late last month, she argued the city has repeatedly approved funds without ensuring basic performance standards are met.
“We’re not supposed to just rubber-stamp what staff recommends,” Mendelsohn said during a Sept. 24 meeting.
Her concerns included a 10% cost increase without clear justification, ongoing prisoner intake delays that keep Dallas police officers waiting for hours and the county’s failure to meet state jail standards.
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A July inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards found the county violated rules by holding two men in temporary cells beyond the 48-hour legal limit, with one also denied his medication for two mornings. The jail has a history of such violations, failing inspections in 2018, 2021 and twice in 2022 for issues like inadequate suicide watch, missing hygiene supplies and falsified observation logs.
Paul Ridley was among the council members who supported the delay, calling it a small price for potential long-term improvements.
“It seems to me that for just a month’s interest, this is a pretty minimal amount, particularly if it allows us to have enhanced priority for the booking of prisoners,” Ridley said. City officials said Dallas would be paying around $725,000 a month under the new payment proposal.
Dallas Public Safety Chief Dominique Artis said the city and county have been negotiating for six months, but a formal contract update would take longer. He recommended the City Council approve the payment agreement during the September meeting.
“It’ll be longer than a month just to get that amendment going and get through all the process that we need to with them, but the numbers will not change,” Artis said, referencing the $8.7 million due to the county. “I’m hopeful in the next six months, we could have this done, working through a number of different issues.”
The City Council voted to send the payment deal to its public safety committee for review later this month before it goes back to the full group for a final decision.
Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins told The Dallas Morning News that jail services would continue for the city, but interest charges may be applied. He disputed Mendelsohn’s claims about intake delays, stating officers complete paperwork at the jail before returning to patrol.
“The county jail intake process has no impact on officers getting back on the street,” Jenkins said. He added that Parkland Hospital now has five nurse stations to process people brought to the jail.
“If the city would like to propose additional performance measures, they need to bring this forward to county staff to discuss,” Jenkins said.
The dispute mirrors a 2022 conflict when Dallas withheld payments for over a year, citing overcharges under an outdated contract. During that period, city payments rose from $7.6 million in 2016 to $9.5 million in 2021, even as annual bookings declined from 19,000 to 17,000.
The stalemate ended later in 2022 with a new payment formula based on actual usage, prioritization of Dallas detainees and a quarterly committee to address ongoing issues.
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County Commissioner John Wiley Price has suggested Dallas build its own jail, arguing the city — which makes up about half the county’s 2.6 million population — isn’t paying enough.
“I think you ought to build your own, and you wouldn’t have to worry about $8 million,” Price told Dallas council members last year.
At the time, Price noted the county sheriff’s office spent about $16 million monthly to operate the jail.
Staff writer Tracey McManus contributed to this report.