Town officials on Tuesday approved an agreement that will allow New Canaan Police Department’s prisoners to be held in a neighboring town while the agency’s South Avenue headquarters is closed for renovations.
The Police Department this week moved into a building at the corner of Locust Avenue and Forest Street while an estimated two-year, $29 million renovation project gets underway at 174 South Ave.
Per state law, any town without suitable holding facilities “shall make arrangements” with the nearest available correctional facility to house detainees.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding that the Board of Selectmen approved during its regular meeting, NCPD arrestees will be transported to the Norwalk Police Department until the renovation here is complete.
“It’s standard procedure when your facility’s unusable to enter an agreement with the neighboring agency,” New Canaan Police Chief John DiFederico said during the selectmen’s meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.
First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the “Interim Prisoner Custody Memorandum of Understanding.”
Murphy Carroll asked about what fees the town would owe Norwalk.
Under state law, the rate for keeping, providing for and feeding a prisoner in such agreements is $2.50 per person per 24-hour period. DiFederico said the New Canaan Police Department houses approximately two inmates overnight per month.
“Each town entitled to reimbursement from the state under the provisions of this section shall make claim for such reimbursement on forms to be provided by the Comptroller,” according to the statute.