Kip Kendrick, Presiding Commissioner

Justin Aldred, District I Commissioner

Janet Thompson, District II Commissioner

Roger B. Wilson

Boone County Government Center

801 E. Walnut St., Rm 333

Columbia, MO 65201-7732

(573) 886-4305 (573) 886-4311

Boone County Commission News Release

Boone County Commission to Consider Budget Amendment for Out-of-County Detainee Housing

COLUMBIA, Mo. (October 14, 2026) - At its October 15 meeting in Sturgeon, the Boone County Commission will consider a budget amendment to increase funding to cover the cost of out-of-county detainee housing for the remainder of 2026. Year-to-date costs for housing detainees out of county during the first three quarters of 2026 have surpassed $3.3 million with the projected total costs for 2026 to be $4.5 million.

Due to the high number of court orders requiring defendants to be held in the Boone County Jail, coupled with limited space in the current jail, Boone County is consistently housing more detainees in out-of-county jails than in the Boone County Jail. Boone County’s expenditures for out-of-county detainee housing surged drastically in just three years, jumping from $499,000 in 2022 to over $2.56 million in 2025. This upward trajectory includes a $420,000 increase from 2022 to 2024, followed by an unprecedented single-year jump of over $1.6 million between 2024 and 2025. This cost curve does not show signs of slowing and is outpacing revenue growth across Boone County. The projections for this year and the current cost trajectory for housing detainees outside of Boone County are unsustainable.

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