Vance County Commissioners are tapping the county’s fund balance to take care of a couple of bills – to the tune of more than $822,000 – that involve health care at the local detention center.
Of that amount, $352,000 will be used to pay past due invoices, some dating back to 2019, that were not paid by the county’s former finance director.
County Manager C. Renee Perry told commissioners during the Dec. 2 meeting that the former finance director had failed to process invoices from Prime Health. Perry said Prime Health, during the same period, experienced staffing shortages which further exacerbated the delays in processing invoices.
“We are committed to resolving this matter efficiently,” Perry told commissioners, “while maintaining our partnership with Prime Health, ensuring continued high-quality health care services for the Vance County Detention Center.”
Perry said, going forward, the county will put in place an enhanced tracking system and hold regular reconciliation meetings to make sure payments are made in a timely manner.
Commissioners also approved using another $470,000 to pay for the health care of inmates, some of whom aren’t even housed in the local jail.
The payment is based on the jail’s average daily population, which lately has been over-capacity, “so costs are increasing significantly,” Perry noted.
The $470,000 will pay for overages between July and December, as well as the six-month contract extension. At Perry’s recommendation, the commissioners approved renewing the contract for six months, through June 2025, instead of an annual contract. The plan is to try to get the next contract based on the fiscal year (July-June) and move away from the calendar year-based contract. The commissioners also asked for information about how many inmates are housed in other detention centers and how much that costs the county.
Assistant County Manager Jeremy Jones told commissioners that he recently arranged for two inmates to be taken to the jail in Edgecombe County, but they were sent back to Vance County because of bad behavior.
In another incident at the Vance County facility, an inmate sprayed four detention officers in the eyes with a combination of bleach, feces and urine.
Board Chair Sean Alston asked the manager to do some research to determine how much money the county has spent for capital improvements and maintenance on the jail over the past two years.
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