At Tuesday’s Oxford Board of Aldermen meeting, Mayor Robyn Tannehill addressed concerns regarding ongoing contract negotiations between the city of Oxford and Lafayette County over the housing of prisoners.

The city has a longstanding agreement with the county to pay for the detention of individuals arrested within Oxford’s city limits.

Tannehill explained that Oxford has historically paid $35 a day for the housing of misdemeanor and felony prisoners arrested by the Oxford Police Department, paying for the full duration of misdemeanor sentences and the first 10 days of felony detentions. The state reimburses the city the $35 a day fee.

However, in October 2023, the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors requested an increase in the city’s daily payment per inmate from $35 to $55. Oxford agreed to the increase to remain a cooperative partner with the county, even though the city would still only be reimbursed $35.

“We agreed because we wanted to be a good partner,” Tannehill said at the meeting.

The most recent issue arose in June when the Board of Supervisors proposed additional changes to the agreement, including the city’s increased responsibility for the medical care of inmates.

According to the proposed contract, if a jail inmate requires off-site medical, dental, or mental health treatment, OPD would be responsible for transporting and monitoring the inmate during the appointment. If the city fails to fulfill this responsibility, the county would step in, but Oxford would be charged a $50 per hour administrative fee on top of the appointment costs.

Additional provisions include Oxford’s responsibility for the costs of any medications prescribed to inmates. If the city fails to pick up medications promptly, the county will handle the task but will charge the city an additional $50 per hour for the effort. The contract also stipulates that Oxford must cover all ambulance and hospital costs in the event of a medical emergency involving a city inmate, as well as monitoring the inmate during treatment.

Tannehill raised concerns about the financial impact of these new responsibilities on the city, noting that Oxford taxpayers already contribute two-thirds of Lafayette County’s ad valorem taxes.

“Our citizens living within Oxford’s city limits are already paying two-thirds of the county’s expenses,” Tannehill said.

Tannehill also pointed out that, while Oxford has made efforts to reduce the length of pretrial detention for city prisoners. These efforts, she argued, should be part of the contract discussions, as they would reduced overall jail costs for all Lafayette County residents.

In July, both parties agreed to revisit the contract terms after the February 2024 grand jury, to resolve detention issues and evaluate whether policy changes had effectively reduced jail costs. However, despite this agreement, the Board of Supervisors recently pressed for an immediate signing of the contract, leaving Oxford officials feeling blindsided.

“We’ve come to the table in good faith multiple times, but the goalpost keeps moving,” Tannehill said.

Tannehill said the county sent over documents showing jail expenses and the need for increased funding from the city just minutes before Tuesday’s meeting and that the Board of Aldermen did not have time to review them yet.

She suggested the Board review the documentation of jail costs and revisit the contract.

“Once we’ve reviewed (the documents), I think we can sit down, discuss actual costs and determine what the real need is and what’s fair to the Lafayette County taxpayers who live within the city,” she said.

The Board agreed.

After the meeting, Lafayette County Supervisor and Board President Brent Larson said that he and his fellow supervisors “look forward to coming to a solution that benefits all taxpayers once all the data has been reviewed,” by city and county officials.