Casa Grande Dispatch
Pinal County’s burden of being obligated to house federal detainees in the county jail at a loss of $2.5 million a year will continue as Pinal negotiates with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a better deal. A meeting Thursday facilitated by U.S. Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Paul Gosar resulted in an agreement by the feds to talk, which they had been unwilling to do for several years. The county has been stuck subsidizing the federal government because of a bad contract it entered into years ago to get federal help in expanding its jail.
The feds’ willingness to negotiate is good for the county, although the process is bound to drag on for months and is not guaranteed to have a result acceptable to Pinal. Before this recent development, the Board of Supervisors had considered terminating the contract, which brought strong objections from Sheriff Paul Babeu because that could cause 130 to 200 of his employees to lose their jobs.
The ICE contract is not the only old federal relationship that has presented a tough challenge for county officials. Dealing with it, however, is crucial for the county’s future.
