Our Story

The JailGeek story began in 2020, with a simple idea: create an application to help county and local jails recoup their costs for housing federal prisoners.  For many years, we witnessed local law enforcement working hard to meet the needs of their federal partners with limited budgets and resources. Yet, a complex system and an extensive list of regulations prevents these local governments from being paid all of the costs for housing, transporting, and often providing expensive medical services to federal prisoners.

The Solution:

Using our proprietary algorithms, state and local governments can: (1) calculate their per diem rate for housing federal prisoners in their local jails; (2) calculate their hospital security and transportation guard rates for federal prisoners; and (3) predict future federal prisoner populations in their federal district or state.  We have both simplified the process for obtaining new rates, while also allowing local governments to better predict county expenditures and revenue. Further, our solution is the only commercially available evaluation tool which complies with the U.S. Office of Management & Budget Circular 200; Chapter XXVIII – Department of Justice (2 CFR 200); and Section 119 of the Department of Justice Appropriations Act of 2001 (Public Law 106-553).

i-detain not only evaluates your jail’s budget history, but it specifically examines your jail’s staffing levels, medical services, food services, capital improvement projects, and then compares all these costs in relationship to other county cost centers to build a per diem rate that captures all expenses, both direct and indirect, that allow your facility to operate in a way that offers benefits to your county and your federal partners. Your cost data is then compared against historical cost data of similarly sized facilities, allowing you the opportunity to benefit from the experience of other local jails while also simplifying and streamlining your own local government experience.  Facilities working with multiple federal agencies can upgrade and add modules without ever needing to rebuild their core program.  As your jail’s needs grow, i-detain grows with you.

The end result is that local government officials are better equipped for negotiations with the U.S. Marshals Service and Immigration Customs & Enforcement, ultimately saving local taxpayer dollars while also increasing county revenue.

Joe Summerill, Founder, President & CEO

For more information about how your local government can use this technology, contact us at sales@jailgeek.com