The Parsons City Commission meeting grows heated during a discussion with the Labette County Sheriff over the cost to house inmates in the county jail.
Labette County Sheriff Darren Eichinger addressed commissioners during the public comment part of this week's meeting. Eichinger told the commission that the Labette County Jail would soon raise the daily cost of housing suspects arrested on Parsons city warrants from $50 per inmate per day to $100. commissioner Kevin Cruse asks Eichinger about the increase.
Eichenger said the increase was due to the Labette County Commission cutting $200,000 from the Sheriff's Department budget. Cruse says it isn't Parsons' job to make up the shortfall.
Parsons Mayor Verlyn Bolinger says the new price would be higher than any other area city pays.
Sheriff Eichinger stated that the reason those cities don't pay as much is because their inmates are often only in the County Jail for 24 to 48 hours and that they bill inmates for the cost of their stay. The discussion grew increasingly heated until Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks chimed in. Spinks says the issue is with the county.
The discussion ended with an understanding between commissioners and the Sheriff's Department that they needed to work together for the benefit of the citizens.
