ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County leaders have approved a new Intergovernmental Agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service that will increase reimbursement rates for federal inmates held at the Orange County Jail.

The agreement comes after almost a year of negotiations.

Under the new agreement, Orange County will be reimbursed $125 per day for each federal inmate held at the jail. The county previously received $88 per day.

The county also will receive an hourly rate of $43 to pay guards and cover transportation expenses, along with reimbursement for mileage.

Orange County Director of Public Safety Danny Banks said the increased rate could bring in significantly more money to the county.

“And with the volume we see in the Orange County Jail of those federal criminal inmates, that’s a lot of money that could amount to several million dollars more in reimbursement to Orange County every year for housing those federal inmates,” Banks said.

The agreement states that the local government must provide “secure custody, safekeeping, housing, subsistence, and care of federal prisoners in accordance with all state, local, and federal laws.”

Banks said Orange County previously housed all federal inmates, including ICE detainees, under the Intergovernmental Agreement. In June, the county entered into a separate Basic Order Agreement (BOA) with ICE that limited how long ICE detainees could be held at the jail to 48 hours.

“Historically in Orange County, we housed all federal inmates, including ICE, under that IGA agreement,” Banks said. “But as you know, in June of this year, our board elected to enter a unique partnership with ICE, solely housing those immigrants under a BOA agreement. And then we reverted back to a new IGA with the Marshal service.”

The Basic Order Agreement has contributed to a decrease in the number of ICE detainees at the Orange County Jail.

According to the Orange County Corrections Department, the jail had 14 males and two females with an ICE hold and no local charges as of Wednesday morning.

“ICE immigration inmates that we’re housing in our jail has gone down significantly,” Banks said. “And it started really back in February of this year when Mayor Demings put those caps on how many we would house.”

Banks said the county is continuing to comply with Florida law while using the separate agreements.

“On the immigration status, we are abiding by the Florida law,” Banks said. “We always have in Orange County, will continue to do so. But transitioning to that BOA agreement was also a good step for Orange County, because it made us consistent with every other county, almost every other county in the state of Florida.”

Ericka Gomez-Tejeda, coordinator for the Immigrants Are Welcome Here Coalition, said the organization views the agreements as a positive step.

“We feel very positive,” Gomez-Tejeda said. “We feel like this was the natural next steps that the county needed to take. Especially after the resolution back in February. And now, having this agreement makes it official… the county is being not only fiscally responsible but also really listening to the community.”

Gomez-Tejeda said she would like to see other local governments take similar steps.

“We’d like to see it spread more throughout the state,” Gomez-Tejeda said. “We want other counties and municipalities to really look at the collaboration with ICE.”

Banks said having both the Basic Order Agreement and the Intergovernmental Agreement in place has provided relief for the jail system while maintaining support for housing federal inmates.

“We’ve now gotten into a position not only to continue to support that, but also getting the most reimbursement back for our local taxpayers that we can,” Banks said. “So that’s all a win-win.”

The agreement went into effect on July 1.