Sunday, February 10, 2008
GEORGIA SENATE RAISES FEES TO HOUSE STATE INMATES
The Valdosta Daily Times reports in Senate raises fees to house inmates:
The Georgia Senate recently approved an amendment to Senate Bill 360, which will increase the daily reimbursement counties receive from the state for housing state prisoners, an increase local law enforcement feels is very much needed.
The Valdosta Daily Times reports in Senate raises fees to house inmates:
The Georgia Senate recently approved an amendment to Senate Bill 360, which will increase the daily reimbursement counties receive from the state for housing state prisoners, an increase local law enforcement feels is very much needed.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, counties currently receive approximately $20 per day for each state prisoner they house in a county jail longer than 15 days, though the minimum subsidy is only $7.50. SB360, which is sponsored by Sen. Johnny Grant, will raise the reimbursement to $30 for each day local governments house inmates awaiting transfer to a state prison.Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk and Lowndes County Sheriff Capt. J. D. Yeager claim that Georgia sheriffs have desired an increase in housing fees for years.“It costs approximately $45 per day to house a state prisoner,” Yeager said. “On average, Lowndes County receives $22 a day. I feel that if the state will not decrease the amount of time it takes to transfer state inmates to prison, then we need to receive more money for housing them. By passing SB360, the burden of housing prison inmates is spread across all taxpayers and not just limited to the taxpayers in Lowndes County.”Lanier County Sheriff Nick Norton also expressed support for the bill.“It’s a good thing and the people supporting it are to be commended,” said Norton, who transfers inmates from Lanier County to the Lowndes County Jail.Because of lack of prison space, sentenced prisoners accumulate in jails as they await transfers to state facilities. As a result, jails become overcrowded, which is a growing issue in Lowndes County.“The Lowndes County Jail is built to house 635 people, yet we currently have 750 inmates,” Yeager said. “About 35 to 40 of the inmates are state-sentenced prisoners and we normally house them for 30 to 60 days before they enter the state system.”Berrien County Sheriff Anthony Heath said that while the Berrien County Jail only has 67 inmates this month, the 72-bed facility was so overcrowded with prisoners last month, some jail inmates had to be sent to other jails.“We’ve been under-compensated for a long time,” Heath said. “It costs $60,000 monthly to run the jail before one even considers room, board and medical expenses for the inmates.”With an increasing need for more funds, local law enforcement hopes that the bill, which now has to be approved by the House before making its way to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s desk, is passed.
We wonder what it really costs to house a prisoner on a per diem basis and whether these jails are running at a deficit or whether these sheriffs are receiving funds from other sources for which they do not account. We also suspect that these Sheriffs are benefiting in some measure by the inmate overcrowding or that they would have sought to end the financial bleeding by finding ways to reduce the prison population.
Labels: User Fees/Hidden Taxes
