Tuesday, November 13, 2007
“I don't know that it directly benefits the inmates, but it certainly benefits law enforcement…Besides, it was the least we could do to be good hosts."
--Dorchester County Sheriff Ray Nash on his use of monies from the “Jail Fund” to feed visiting Romanian Police Chiefs, November 13, 2007
"That's not what it's earmarked for…It does not have anything to do with inmates in Dorchester County."
--Retired State Law Enforcement Division supervisor L.C. Knight, who is challenging Nash for office, November 13, 2007
We do not want to obsess on this issue and will move on to something else in a little while; however, we note that on July 24, 2000, The Post and Courier reported:
Sheriff Nash was paying money from federal funds to a local church. The church in turn was turning the money over to Nash's department chaplain, Shelby Weeks. Since early 1998, Nash has received more than $500,000 from the U.S. Marshal's Service for housing federal prisoners in the county jail. During that time, he has given the church more than $42,000 of that money..... Nash said in a letter to the editor of The Post and Courier on Sunday that an independent board will be established to run the program.
On November 1, 2007, Sheriff Nash acknowledged that thousands of dollars were missing from the "Jail Fund," furthermore, The Post and Courier reported:
On November 2, 2007, The Post and Courier reported that the jail fund "came from haircuts, the jail commissary, inmate collect phone calls and a controversial $15 processing fee."The money came from inmate haircuts, medical charges, the commissary and a $15 processing fee that prisoners were being charged as they entered the jail...The money was not part of the regular budget. It was supposed to be used for special events for inmates, such as special food on the Fourth of July and a banquet to thank volunteers at the jail, but it also could be used to make up shortfalls in the general budget (emphasis added).
On November 9, 2007, The Post and Courier reported:
Nash said no taxpayer money is going into the [Romanian] chiefs' visit, but the jail fund picked up the tab for some of their meals and snacks. The jail fund comes from inmates and includes money from haircuts, medical exams, collect phone calls and a $15 processing fee for arrested suspects that Nash put on hold after County Council questioned whether it was legal (emphasis added).
At the risk of both repeating ourselves and offending some Nash supporters, we note that, by his own admission, Sheriff Nash does not know how much money the Prisoner Recreation Fund generates, how it is being used, how much has been spent, how much has been embezzled, or even whether some of the charges being imposed are lawful. More important, from our standpoint, there is simply no way that an intelligent and rationale person can argue that Sheriff Nash is using these funds for the "benefit" of the prisoners. Therefore, we reiterate that we think an Independent Board should be created to oversee this program. Additionally, we think that this Independent Board should include Dorchester County Jail Inmates; after all, if the fund is for their benefit, they should have some input into the determination of what most benefits them.
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