Federal government payments to keep immigration detainees at an Indiana prison are lagging several months, according to the Department of Correction and monthly reporting released under a new state law.
Indiana has not been paid for services rendered this year, according to the Department of Correction. The state has spent about $7 million to accommodate detainees at the Miami Correctional Facility this year as of March.
“The … delay is a combination of working through initial reimbursement requests and review by the federal government,” Department of Revenue spokeswoman Megan Kramer said Tuesday. “DOC expects that as they continue working through the process, turnaround times will improve.”
Hoosier officials agreed to a two-year contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold up to 1,000 detainees at a time in a previously unused wing of the prison.
Detainees sent to Miami are adult men classified as medium-maximum security for stays longer than 72 hours.
Under the agreement, which began Oct. 1 and runs through September 2027, ICE will pay Indiana $291.24 per bed per day — which DOC Commissioner Lloyd Arnold has said is about four times the $75 daily per-person cost for inmates at the prison.
The agency previously told the Capital Chronicle it had been paid $1.17 million for October and $3.86 million for November.
In reports to the State Budget Committee, DOC combined the payments into a $5 million subtotal listed under November, Kramer said.
A December payment of $4.7 million, which was not included in the reports, was received last week, according to DOC spokeswoman Noelle Russell. January through March have been invoiced.
The reports were filed pursuant to Senate Enrolled Act 76, a controversial immigration enforcement measure. Republicans accepted a Democratic amendment to require monthly reporting from DOC on expenses and revenue related to the ICE contract.
The provision — which took effect March 5, when the law was signed — required the agency to submit a “status update” by March 15, including money spent and received between Oct. 1 and March 1. Future status reports are due monthly through 2027.
But the March and April reports “were mistakenly left off the April committee agenda” for the State Budget Committee, Kramer said.
The committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon “to consider the two time-sensitive items on the agenda” — an abnormally short to-do list. The two state university campus projects are followed by an acknowledgement of DOC’s submissions.
The reports show DOC has spent $12.5 million housing detainees since the contract began through March, but has received less than $5.1 million from ICE over that time period.
About $5.9 million of the expenditures were labeled “contractual services,” with $5.2 million going to”personal services and fringe benefits.”
DOC also logged spending of $646,000 on supplies, parts and materials; $382,000 on capital costs; $340,000 on utilities and $67,000 on administrative and operating expenses.
The Budget Committee previously approved almost $15.8 million in upfront costs to prepare the prison along U.S. 31 near Grissom Air Reserve Base for its stint as what Trump administration officials dubbed the “Speedway Slammer.”
The money was intended to fund a wide range of infrastructure upgrades and equipment purchases, according to committee documents.