Local Sheriffs Answer President Trump’s Call to Action

Santa Monica, CA – January 2025.

“With the inauguration of President Donald Trump, there will now be a historic need for local jail bedspace to meet the new Administration’s goals,” said JailGeek, INC. CEO Joe Summerill. “Sheriffs able and willing to house federal prisoners can take steps now to prepare their local jail for this increase in the federal prisoner population.”

Assess the status of your IGA.  

If you have an existing intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with USMS, review your current agreement’s per diem rate and transportation / hospital guard service rate. Detention facilities are labor intensive operations.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), total employment costs (wages and benefits) have increased at an average annual rate of 3.4 percent since 2020.  Additionally, the Consumer Price Index, which measures the cost of goods and services, increased at an average annual rate of 4.8 percent.  If your facility has not received a per diem rate increase during the past three years, start the process of negotiating new rates. But, plan ahead because it can take the federal agencies between 90 – 120 days to process a request for a rate adjustment.

If you don’t already have an IGA, apply for one.

If you don’t have an IGA and your facility has excess detention capacity, contact your local United States Marshal regarding establishing an IGA.  The local Marshal will coordinate the application process with Headquarters staff. As part of the IGA process, USMS staff will review facility expenses to establish an appropriate per diem rate.  And, prior to finalizing the IGA, they will conduct an onsite review to ensure that the facility is operating consistent with agency detention standards.