MANSFIELD — Richland County commissioners are back to cooking from scratch when it comes to a food services contract for county jail inmates.
On Thursday, commissioners announced Trinity Services Group, a Florida-based company, was opting out of a deal signed less than three months ago.
The company, which has supplied meal services to the 234-bed jail for the last several years, received an 8 percent increase over 2023 prices, which had been an 8.6 percent increase over 2022.
The contract agreed to in April was for one year with the potential for three, one-year renewals.
Under the contract, Trinity would be paid about $2.02 per meal for 701 to 750 meals per day, according to Richland County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Chris Blunk, the jail administrator.
Blunk said the Trinity bid was the lowest among three submitted, besting Summit Correctional Services’ offer of $2.26 per meal and Aramak Correctional Services’ bid of $2.46 per meal.
But Trinity will apparently exercise its option to withdraw from the contract with 90 days notice, a clock that will begin ticking once commissioners receive official written notice.
That means commissioners on Thursday approved a motion to seek a potential new food services provider, which could be needed as soon as October.
“(The contract) did just get settled, so this was not good news,” county administrator Andrew Keller said.
Blunk said Trinity officials had notified him that “their submitted price was lower than they estimated by mistake,” according to Keller.
“That was a little frustrating. Under the contract, Trinity does have the right to terminate the contract at will with 90 days notice. That’s what they’ve done,” Keller said, adding commissioners have a 30-day opt-out in the contract.
“We can’t control that. So it’s back to the drawing board with putting out a (request for proposals for jail food services),” he said.
Commissioner Darrell Banks asked Keller if a new contract could provide tougher opt-out language. “Or is that something we have to live with in order to get the bids?” he asked.
Keller said, “That would be in the commissioners’ discretion.”
The marked increases over the last few years were apparently not enough for the company, whose website says is the largest contractor in the country dedicated to the corrections industry.
“That’s our understanding,” Keller said. “To be honest with you, Capt. Blunk had a conversation with Trinity about some potential irregularities in their original (price) submission. Trinity assured him, ‘No, this is our intention.’
“And now here we are. They are telling us it’s lower than they intended,” Keller said.
It’s possible Trinity could submit a new proposal that offers its services at a higher price than the contract they are leaving, according to Keller.
The administrator said price is always a big consideration when considering jail food service proposals. But, he said, the county has developed criteria for examining proposals, which includes past experiences with companies seeking contracts.
“It’s not just lowest and best bid (for this contract),” he said.
The 2024 budget for jail meals is $596,000, which Blunk said in April that he believed would be achievable. That’s up from requests of $567,000 in 2023 and $540,000 in 2022.
Inmates each receive a cold breakfast and hot lunches and dinners, according to Blunk.
