Taos County Cancels “Free Confinement” for Town of Taos Inmates

While the Taos Mayor claims Taos County will no longer house town inmates, the “facts” of the matter are fairly simple. The Town of Taos has been receiving “free confinement” and the County aims to end the practice and charge the Town: no more free rides. By the same token, the County offers to negotiate a new contract with the Town.

See letter below from County Manager Archuleta to Town Manager Oscar Rodriguez.

February 21, 2014
Re: Termination of Contract for Inmate Confinement Taos County Contract TCC-2013-068

Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested Number 7013-1710-0002-0065-4034

Oscar Rodriguez, Town Manager

Town of Taos
400 Camino de la Placita Taos, NM 87571

Dear Mr. Rodriguez:

Please be advised that Taos County is terminating the above referenced contract pursuant to paragraph 3. a ., which provides that either party may terminate the contract on 30 days written notice. Pursuant to paragraph 3. a., termination shall be effective 30 days from your receipt of this notice. After that date, Taos County will no longer house Town of Taos detainees at the Taos County Detention Center pursuant to the current contract. However, Taos County is willing to house Town of Taos detainees pursuant to a revised contract that addresses the issue discussed below.

Taos County has determined that the practical application of the first paragraph of paragraph 7., Compensation, is not economically sustainable for the County. Paragraph 7. has been applied by the parties so t hat the Town does not pay for weekend days of confinement. The Town’s practice has been to transfer its detainees to other facilities after the weekend . As a result, the County has been providing free confinement of the Town’s detainees (my bold). I do not know exactly why the practice of not charging for weekend confinement originally started, but it is my understanding is t hat it dates back to well before the opening of the County’s new detention facility. The cost of operation of that facility makes it unacceptable to continue to provide free confinement to the Town, especially when the Town houses its detainees at other facilities after utilizing the free weekend confinement.

Taos County is willing to continue to house Town of Taos detainees as long as it is paid for the services that it provides . Toward that end, a redlined proposal for a new contract is enclosed for your review. Please note that there are miscellaneous redline changes that reflect general updating of our standard detention contract and are not related to t his issue. The changes related to this issue are found in paragraph 7. If the Town is amenable to paying for weekend confinement of its detainees, we should try to execute a new contract before the effective date of this notice of termination so that housing Town detainees at the Taos County Detention Center can continue without interruption .

I look forward to hearing from you .

Very Truly Yours

Stephen P. Archuleta

(Taos County Manager)