Board of County Commissioners of Bernalillo v. United States

93 Fed. Cl. 228, 2010 U.S. Claims LEXIS 458, 2010 WL 2780900
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 14, 2010
DocketNo. 09-549
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 93 Fed. Cl. 228 (Board of County Commissioners of Bernalillo v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of County Commissioners of Bernalillo v. United States, 93 Fed. Cl. 228, 2010 U.S. Claims LEXIS 458, 2010 WL 2780900 (uscfc 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

BRUGGINK, Judge.

This suit concerns the interpretation of a contract for the detention of federal prisoners in a county-owned correctional facility. Plaintiff contends that the United States partially breached the agreement and seeks to recover damages arising from the breach. Currently pending is plaintiffs motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Rule 12(c) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (RCFC). Also before the court is defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment pursuant to RCFC 56. The motions have been fully briefed, and we heard oral argument on May 4, 2010. For the reasons set forth below, we grant plaintiffs motion for judgment on the pleadings as to liability only and deny defendant’s motion for summary judgment.1

BACKGROUND2

This dispute arises from an inter-governmental contract between the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee (“OFDT” or “the government”) and the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Bernalillo, New Mexico (“Bernalillo County” or “the county”). The OFDT is a component of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for entering and overseeing contracts with state and local entities to provide detention services for persons in the custody of various federal law enforcement agencies. On March 25, 2005, the OFDT entered into such an agreement with Bernalillo County. The six-year contract, Intergovernmental Agreement No. ODT-I-5-OOOl (“the contract”), provided for three federal components to house prisoners at the Regional Correction Center (“RCC” or “the facility”) in Albuquerque, a jail owned by Bernalillo County and operated through its subcontractor, Cornell Companies, Inc. (“Cornell”).

The contract contemplated housing detainees who were in the custody of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), the United States Marshals Service (“USMS”), and the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”). In exchange, Bernalillo County received a per diem rate for each detainee. The contract set an initial per diem rate of $59.74 per prisoner and provided for this rate to be subsequently adjusted based on operating expenses and certain indices.3 The contract estimates the number of detainees for two of the three federal agencies, and, more significantly, promises a minimum of 182,500 “Guaranteed Federal Jail Days Annually.”

Three of the contract’s provisions are of import. One is the modification clause, which provided that the “Agreement, or any of its specific provisions, may be revised or modified by signatory concurrence of the undersigned parties, or their respective official successors.” The contract also contained a termination provision, which provided that the “Agreement shall terminate upon one hundred and eighty days (180) advanced written notice to the other party.” Additionally, the contract contained provisions requiring that conditions at the RCC comply with certain industry standards and guidelines. To ensure compliance with these standards, the contract provided for periodic inspections of the facility and specified the areas that [231]*231would be inspected to determine whether the RCC housed federal detainees in accordance with the contract.

In the contract's first year, the government used fewer than the guaranteed 182,500 jail days. Accordingly, at the conclusion of the 2005-06 contract year,4 Bernalillo County submitted an invoice in the amount of $2,609,801.64 for the shortfall between the jail days actually used and the guaranteed annual jail days. The government paid the invoice in full.

In the fall of 2006, the OFDT conducted a review of the RCC’s operations, concluding that the facility was “At-Risk.” In this review, the government identified five specific areas in which the RCC did not comply with the standards specified in the contract. The review also revealed that RCC staff had failed to perform appropriate counts of detainees and had inadequate procedures for securing and supervising the tool area. Five months later, the government again reviewed the RCC. In this review, the facility received an “Acceptable” rating, although it continued to fall short in four of the five areas identified in the previous review.

Early in the second year of the contract, the Chief Judge of the local United States District Court visited the RCC. She subsequently sent a letter to ICE describing the conditions at the facility as “appalling,” outlining various deficiencies, and suggesting immediate investigation and attention. In response, the Department of Homeland Security dispatched employees to conduct a two-day review of the RCC. This review, like those before it, concluded that the facility did not meet contractually-specified detention standards, this time listing thirty-one areas of shortcoming.

Following this review, on July 3, 2007, the OFDT wrote to Bernalillo County, stating that “the Federal Government is considering Terminating or reducing the guaranteed annual jail days under our agreement for the use of the [RCC].” Def. PFUF, App. at 11. The letter further stated that it “should be considered formal notice under the Termination of Agreement Provision and the Failure to Perform Required Services provision.” Id. The letter noted concerns expressed by ICE, the USMS, and the Chief Judge. Shortly after issuing this letter, ICE conducted a follow-up review of the RCC, rating it “At-Risk” or “Deficient” in five areas. Several months later, in November 2007, an ICE contractor conducted an inspection of the facility, recommending an “Acceptable” rating, but noting continued non-compliance in three areas.

On February 27, 2008, OFDT wrote Ber-nalillo County to inform it that ICE would no longer house detainees at the RCC. Accompanying this letter was a unilateral modification purporting to remove ICE from the contract and reduce the guaranteed annual jail days by nearly two-thirds. The modification states, “The purpose of this modification is to remove Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the current Intergovernmental Agreement. Accordingly, the Federal jail days have been reduced from 182,500 to 66,-300 annually. All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.” Amend. Comp. Ex. 6.

At the conclusion of the 2007-08 contract year, the government had used fewer than the originally guaranteed number of annual jail days. Accordingly, Cornell, the county’s subcontractor, submitted an invoice to the Department of Homeland Security for $2,091,927.60 to recover the shortfall. When the government did not respond to this invoice, Cornell submitted a certified claim to Bernalillo County under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (“CDA”). The county in turn certified, sponsored, and submitted the CDA claim to the government’s Contracting Officer and requested a final decision. No decision was forthcoming.

In the 2008-09 contract year, this cycle repeated itself, when the government again used fewer than the guaranteed annual jail days, failed to respond to an invoice for $2,124,669.75, and failed to issue a final decision on the subsequent CDA claim.5 On [232]*232August 19, 2009, Bernalillo County filed suit in this court claiming partial breach of contract and seeking payment of the shortfall invoices.

DISCUSSION

Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,

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Related

Estate of Liftin v. United States
101 Fed. Cl. 604 (Federal Claims, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
93 Fed. Cl. 228, 2010 U.S. Claims LEXIS 458, 2010 WL 2780900, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-county-commissioners-of-bernalillo-v-united-states-uscfc-2010.