York County and Sheriff Kevin Tolson file lawsuit regarding jail fees involving City of RH and Tega Cay

Wednesday, York County and Sheriff Kevin Tolson filed a lawsuit and complaint to the cities of Rock Hill and Tega Cay regarding jail fees to house prisoners at the County jail. The issue is over fees regarding to jail detention services at the York County jail and the individuals from those cities that they detain. York County released a statement saying the arrangement with the municipalities results in reduction of overall costs for most cities when compared to the cost of constructing and operating detention facilities themselves. The cities have refused to agreements after six months of negotiating. The lawsuit itself seeks a courts determination that if Rock Hill and Tega Cay desire to have the County provide detention services on their behalf then they are required to enter written agreements governing the arrangement.
Below are statements from York County and Rock Hill.
York County Statement::
On Wednesday, due to actions by the Cities of Rock Hill and Tega Cay, York County and Sheriff Kevin Tolson took steps to protect their interests, and the interests of the taxpayers, through legal proceedings. The Cities inside York County have an obligation under the law to provide jail detention services for individuals that they detain. For many years those detention services have been provided by agreement with the County and Sheriff Tolson at the York County Detention Center. Under that agreement the Cities reimburse the County and Sheriff Tolson for the cost of detaining their municipal inmates. This arrangement results in reduction of overall cost for most municipalities when compared to the cost of constructing and operating detention facilities themselves.
Last year, the Cities declined to pay the County and the Sheriff for these detention services and expected to continue to send their detainees without payment. More recently, the Cities have refused to enter into written agreements with the County and Sheriff Tolson, as required by law, that would govern this joint provision of services. The County and Sheriff Tolson have worked for more than six months to negotiate and obtain the required signatures from each of the County’s municipalities for such a written agreement. Clover, Fort Mill, and York all have signed such agreements; Rock Hill and Tega Cay refuse. This lawsuit seeks a court’s determination that, if Rock Hill and Tega Cay desire to have the County and Sheriff Tolson provide these detention services on their behalf, then they are required to enter written agreements governing the arrangement.
Attached is a copy of the complaint filed Wednesday. As this is now pending litigation, York County Government and Sheriff Tolson will make no further comment on this matter at this time.
This is a statement and response from the City of Rock Hill. Tega Cay provided no comment.
Today, York County took the unfortunate step of filing a lawsuit against municipalities in York County. The County is completely aware of the City of Rock Hill position that these fees have historically been paid voluntarily as they are not required under state law. The City does not entirely object to voluntarily paying a fee; however, the City only plans to do so under a fairly negotiated agreement.
Just over one year ago, York County unilaterally and arbitrarily announced it was raising the daily fees for boarding prisoners to almost $100 per prisoner per day, essentially doubling the fee. This was done with no provision of information or background on how the fee was calculated. Many of the municipalities in York County announced they would not pay these fees. Several months later the County provided new information to the municipalities that reduced these arbitrary fees by approximately 20%. However, again no adequate justification was provided for how the fee was calculated.
In the spirit of cooperation and good faith, the City has paid all fees associated with the dispute. The fee has been voluntarily paid, even though there is no law requiring the City to do so. In fact, the state statute requires the County to board all municipal prisoners with no provision for fees. Beyond paying these fees, City of Rock Hill taxpayers already fund operations related to the Sheriff’s Office through County property taxes paid to the tune of approximately $7.9 million a year. Surely, Rock Hill residents have paid their fair share to York County for these services.
The City has made several offers on how we would be comfortable moving forward under a fairly negotiated agreement; however, York County has refused to negotiate. We look forward to providing additional information before the court and vigorously defending the residents of Rock Hill all of whom are also residents of York County.
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