City and county leaders are negotiating a deal to send Texas Fort Worth prisoners back to the Tarrant County Jail, possibly when the city's contract to send prisoners to Mansfield expires next year. Negotiations have been kept fairly quiet, but officials say a decision should be made in January to give the county time to adjust plans for a new jail.
"It made sense before and it makes sense now to have a joint operation,” Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said.
Moncrief, Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Silcox, Tarrant County Commissioners J.D. Johnson and Glen Whitley, and various city and county staff members met last week in the latest of several meetings to discuss the possibility of a joint venture.
Officials say they are examining costs of a contract between the city and county for housing city prisoners. Moncrief said a key part of the discussions is where the county would build a new jail. The issue has not yet gone before the City Council or Commissioners Court for consideration.
The county needs a decision from the city by Jan. 15 in order to accommodate its plans for a new jail, which is expected to be included in a bond package that could go before voters in May, officials said. 
If Fort Worth decides to house its inmates in the county jail, then the plans for a new jail would include a larger booking area. Certain costs are higher at county jails because the facilities must adhere to Texas jail standards. City jails are not subject to the guidelines and can cut some costs, such as guard-to-inmate ratios. Fort Worth sent its prisoners to the Tarrant County Jail from 1985 to 2001, until officials signed a five-year, $16 million contract with the city of Mansfield that ends in September.
City and county officials had been unable to agree on terms of a renewal contract with the county, and city officials at the time told the Star-Telegram that the switch to Mansfield should save money. Those cost savings have not materialized, city officials said.