Johnson County Law Enforcement Center should have a new private subcontractor no later than Sept. 15 after the recent decision of Community Education Centers to end its agreement with the county to run the jail.

CEC signed a three-year contract with the county in September 2008. 

CEC used an escape clause, County Judge Roger Harmon said Tuesday, extending the county six months notice of contract termination.

CEC warden James Duke could not be reached for comment, but CEC officials told Johnson County commissioners that the corporation was losing money in its operation of the jail. 

Commissioners took measures in a Monday workshop to put the jail’s operation out for bid. 

Two other corporations are interested in taking over for CEC, said Sheriff Bob Alford. 

CEC has agreed to stay on the job until Sept. 15, as the contract stipulates, Alford added.

The jail has 776 beds. Based on an inmate count of 600, the county figured to save $3.2 million per year under CEC. 

On 400 inmates, the savings would have been $1.4 million per year.

CEC expected to make the bulk of its money by filling unoccupied beds with immigration detainees.

“The average population is 450 to 500,” Duke said last year. “There are empty beds. That’s attractive to us. We take those empty beds and help the county get contracts with other entities such as Immigration Customs Enforcement. Corrections 2 [block] has 176 beds. We put ICE detainees in those beds. ICE pays Johnson County, and the county reimburses us.

“The county makes $5 off every detainee. The county makes money, and we make money.”

That wasn’t the way it worked out, Harmon said.

“Part of the problem came with the contract CEC had with immigration services,” Harmon said. “CEC thought it would be housing the detainees for a period of time. But [ICE] was calling on CEC to take on the expense of transporting detainees. CEC was being paid mileage to do that, but sometimes they didn’t have time to get the detainees back here and in the jail before [ICE] said, ‘Take the detainees to the border and release them.’ ”

So CEC had fewer bodies to fill the empty beds, and then the empty beds began multiplying.

“When CEC contracted with us, we were running about 600 inmates per day,” Harmon said. “Nobody knows why, but the numbers recently have been running around 400 per day. Incarceration numbers are down statewide and nationwide, from what I understand. You wouldn’t think it would be that way with high unemployment, but it is.”

The county was happy with its end of the contract, Harmon said.

“We were saving $1 million a year in my estimation. All the costs of running the jail had been taken over by CEC. We negotiated what we thought was a fair deal. I’m not a jail administrator, so it’s hard for me to say they were too heavy on overhead, but that might have been a problem.”

Johnson County realized immediate savings once CEC entered the picture. 

The county released 125 employees, saving on salaries, benefits, insurance overtime and retirement savings, Alford said last year. 

“My stipulation was that no employee in good standing would lose their position, rank or salary,” he said. “Actually most of the employees received a pay raise in the form of much lower insurance cost. And we carried six employees on the county payroll who were within six months of county retirement, with CEC reimbursing the county for salary and benefits so they could get their retirement.”

Alford said Tuesday that his mandate on employee retention would carry over to the next subcontractor.

Alford said the jail is still under his command.

“If it breaks, it’s my problem,” he said.

Precinct 1 Commissioner John Matthews said that, although disappointed, he believed another subcontractor could be found.

“I thought the program was going very smoothly, and the process was mutually beneficial,” Matthews said. “Now, the county is forced to try to find another subcontractor that expressed interest previously. We’re very confident that will happen. The last option available would be for the county to reassume management of the jail, but we want to take a look at other subcontractors.”

Matthews gave CEC above average marks.

“We were pleased for the most part,” he said. “There’s always room for improvement when you have a subcontractor manage a facility. But as a whole, it operated efficiently.”

Matthews said he hopes another subcontractor will assume CEC’s contract with no alterations.

“We obviously have to go through the bid process, but we think there’s a very good possibility someone will be interested in the contract as is.”

In retrospect, Harmon said, jail privatization has been a good experience.

“I think everybody was OK with privatizing,” Harmon said. “It was strictly a business decision for CEC. There may be other reasons I’m not privy to, but any contract has to be good for both parties. Maybe they felt it wasn’t as good for them anymore.”