Judge denies city request in lawsuit over county jail
SBJ Staff
Posted online
Another battle is over in the war for jail space between Greene County and the city of Springfield.
In an order filed Dec. 13 by the 25th Judicial Court of Missouri, Judge John Beger denied the city’s motion to issue a partial summary judgment in its lawsuit against Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott and county commissioners.
The lawsuit will move forward and the city will not have access to the jail as requested. This ruling will help the parties limit the scope of future discovery and trial issues, according to a news release from the city.
Beger ruled the majority of the city’s statement of facts exist “without substantial controversy” and need no further adjudication, according to the release.
The suit stems from an April 2015 dispute in which the jail exceeded capacity and Arnott stopped accepting municipal inmates. The city filed suit, maintaining that action goes against a 1997 intergovernmental agreement between the two parties.
“The (Law Enforcement Sales Tax) agreement did not account for the changes in population, economy and criminal justice system that have occurred here in the nearly 20 years since the tax passed,” Greene County Presiding Commissioner Bob Cirtin said in a separate news release. “It is clear the agreement needs to be reassessed to accommodate for the realities we are facing today.”
At Monday’s Springfield City Council meeting, the city entered into a financial agreement with Vernon County allowing local municipal prisoners to be transferred to Nevada. Effective Jan. 2, Vernon County will provide transportation and space for Springfield prisoners at its 108-bed jail for $45 a day per inmate.
In June, the city rejected the Greene County Commission’s proposal for a temporary jail to be erected on the lot east of the Greene County Jail and north of the commission’s office at 933 N. Robberson Ave. The commission wanted $1 million a year from the city over a three-year period to pay for the temporary facility.
