Denton County commissioners will consider renewing a backup arrangement that lets the county send inmates to the Cooke County Jail when its own jail has no room. The interlocal agreement is on the Commissioners Court agenda for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20.
The previous agreement with Cooke County expired Sept. 30. The new one would cover Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2027.
According to a memo from the counsel to the sheriff in the district attorney's office, inmates would be moved if the Denton County jail fills every bed or reaches the staffing limit set by state law. The memo says the sheriff's budget already includes money for the deal and calls the rate very reasonable.
What the county would pay
Cooke County would charge $70 per inmate per day. Part of a day counts as a full day, with one exception: an inmate who arrives at 6 p.m. or later and leaves by noon the next morning is billed for just one day.
That rate covers housing, meals and routine medical care, such as over-the-counter drugs. Denton County would separately pay for outside doctors, prescriptions, dental care and any hospital stay, and non-emergency procedures would need its approval first.
