Fargo City Commission Special Meeting - August 27, 2025

Agreeable with a call for a Special Meeting issued by Mayor Mahoney, the Board of City Commissioners of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, convened in a Special Meeting in the City Commission Chambers at City Hall at 10:00 o'clock a.m. Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
The Commissioners present or absent were as shown following:
Present: Kolpack, Piepkorn, Strand, Turnberg and Mahoney.
Mayor Mahoney presiding.

City Administrator Michael Redlinger said the updated agreement regarding the new jail contract includes crucial assurances from the Cass County Sheriff regarding the health, safety and protection of City officers while they are at the facility. He said our staff will be provided with a panic button and a radio for use when transporting inmates between court proceedings. He said the agreement addresses the issue of inmate property and the City and County have worked together to establish a better process for managing and maintaining property once it's brought into the jail. He said it is critical to move forward and approve this agreement today. Although, he said, there have been significant negotiations and a considerable amount of time dedicated to this, now is the time to proceed. He said the Cass County Commission will be notified of the City’s approval so we can finalize and sign the agreement. He said the City Attorney and the State's Attorney's office will continue discussions about the long-term management of inmate property, including what items are permitted in the jail. He said while these conversations will continue, we feel a sense of urgency to approve this current agreement.
In response to a question from Commissioner Turnberg regarding any changes to the agreement that Cass County proposed, Mr. Redlinger said the agreement is the one that West Fargo has already approved. He said, while our verbal understandings about the panic button and radio protocols are not written into the agreement, they have been established. In the future, he said, it may be considered to formalize these protocols within the agreement to make them permanent. Additionally, he said, the issue of inmate property will not be resolved today. He said the Commission may decide to seek an Attorney General's opinion on this matter down the line, but that's a discussion for the future, not for this current agreement.
Commissioner Piepkorn said this is a great step. He said he was glad this is being done because it impacts federal reimbursement.
Commissioner Turnberg also mentioned that after extensive discussions with the sheriff and other officers, it's clear that if the City Commission does not approve the contract as Cass County has presented it, they will reject it leaving us with nowhere to house our prisoners.
Mayor Mahoney said the City has the contract that West Fargo has already recommended and approved. The City wanted to confirm we had the right one, especially since they held a special meeting to finalize it. He said he had initially suggested we start the federal funding discussion in September; however, according to Sheriff Jahner, once this contract is approved, the federal rate will increase. He said this means the jail will see increased revenue regardless of whether the change happens in September or January. He said approving this contract gets everything in line so the City can continue to use the County jail.
Commissioner Piepkorn mentioned that Sheriff Jahner stated that even after this contract is signed, they are open to adjusting and improvements to the agreement over time.
Commissioner Kolpack said she also has spoken with both Sheriff Jahner and Chief Zibolski. The understanding is that the City will continue to monitor the verbal agreements that are not in the contract and make changes in a cooperative manner if needed.
In response to a question by Commissioner Strand regarding why the contract started back in June of 2023 and why there seems to be a delay in this approval, City Attorney Nancy Morris said there have been ongoing negotiations, exchanging several drafts and successfully making a number of changes to the initial contract presented in 2023. While there has been an impasse on a few issues, there have been continued discussions and are now recommending to move forward with this agreement as it's presented today.
Mayor Mahoney said multiple parties were involved in these discussions, including the State's Attorney, our City attorney, Sheriff Jahner and our Police Chief David Zibolski. He said while it may seem like the process took a while, it was due to the time needed for all parties to respond. Often, he said, these were legal questions that required research. For example, he said, a key question was about what property inmates can bring into the jail. He said this was a concern because, in the past, people would bring in backpacks and all their belongings, which did not work well within the jail. Initially, he said, the contract was based on the 2023 policy, but the county had already switched to a 2025 policy. He said many of our prior concerns were addressed in the new policy and sorting out this confusion also took some time.
Commissioner Strand said while touring the jail, he learned that 40% of the residents in jail are technically homeless. He said he was concerned about our approach of continuously expanding the jail and increasing its capacity to 526, which would make it one of the largest in the State. He said this raises the question of whether jail is always the best solution, especially considering the cost. He said the daily spending to house someone in jail is $120 a day, a cost the City does not currently dedicate to providing housing for homeless individuals.
Commissioner Turnberg said people are not being jailed for homelessness, people are going to jail for crime and breaking the law and the drug problem in the jail is a bigger issue than homelessness.
Commissioner Kolpack moved the Contact for Incarceration of Adult Inmates at the Cass County Jail be approved.

Second by Turnberg. On call of the roll Commissioners Kolpack, Turnberg, Piepkorn, Strand and Mahoney voted aye.
No Commissioner being absent and none voting nay, the motion was declared carried.
The time at adjournment was 10:15 o’clock a.m.