To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Tyler Brown, Sheriff
Prepared By:
prepared
Jared Rowlison, Detention Services Bureau Chief
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Subject:
title
2022-2023 Agreement for Services Between Arapahoe County and Advent Financial Systems, LLC to provide Debt Collection Services for the Inmate Trust Account
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
The Board of County Commissioners is requested to adopt a resolution authorizing the Chair to execute a contract on behalf of the County for Debt Collection Services and to authorize the Arapahoe County Sheriff to sign any amendments and extensions thereto.
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Background and Discussion: Advent Financial Systems, LLC (Advent) has been providing debt collection services for the Arapahoe County Detention Facility (ACDF) since 2017, when its services were part of the Agreement between Arapahoe County and Trinity Services Group to provide Inmate Commissary and Inmate Banking services. ACDF has been very satisfied with Advent’s services since then. It was recently discovered that since switching commissary providers in 2018, Advent and Arapahoe County needed their own formal agreement, independent of the current commissary contractor, Aramark Correctional Services.
ACDF requests to enter into contract with Advent with the option to extend the contract for up to four subsequent one-year periods. Prior to signatures, each extension will go through the Contract Insight System, including approvals from the Budget Division reviewing for available dollars in the department budget, the Purchasing Manager reviewing to make sure the purchasing process was followed, Risk Management reviewing for insurance requirements, and the County Attorney reviewing for any legal issues.
The services are provided at no cost to the County. A $30.00 fee is collected from the debtor upon repayment. The debts turned over to Advent have been incurred by inmates at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility (ACDF) during their stay. Upon release, each debtor is provided with a detailed statement of what they owe the County and they have 30 days to pay their debt directly to the ACDF. If no payment is received within 30 days, the account is turned over to Advent, who then contacts the debtor further in an effort to resolve the debt.
Alternatives: The alternative is to not try to collect outstanding debts from former inmates.
Fiscal Impact: This contract is revenue-generating. Although the amount of the debts eventually collected are not substantial, there is no cost to the County for this service.
Alignment with Strategic Plan:
☒Be fiscally sustainable
☐Provide essential and mandated service
☐Be community focused
Concurrence: The Sheriff’s Office Detention and Administration Bureaus are in concurrence with this decision.