Taxpayers estimated to save $206,591 as inmate numbers increase

Taxpayers estimated to save $206,591 as inmate numbers increase

Logan County Detention Center is expected to increase its budget by $53, 750 in the 2015-2016 period, which covers mostly food costs. The county can anticipate saving $206,591 by subsidizing the jail due to the increase of state inmates. The budget for detention center I the 2015-2016 period is $2, 320, 670.

Tax dollars from the county will subsidize the detention center $1.3 million instead of the $1.5 million from last year. Judge Executive Logan Chick suggests the decrease is due to the rise in state inmates at the jail.

Logan County Jailer Phil Gregory reported at the fiscal court meeting on April 28 there were 158 inmates in the county’s jail, with 72 being classified as state inmates. He believes this number is at an all time high.

Inmates that are classed as ‘state’ are convicted and sentenced and a portion of their stay is paid for by the state. If they are classed as ‘county’ then the county will pay them for during their stay whilst anticipating the process of conviction and sentencing.

Subsequently, some view this as just a form of semantics, as taxpayers will eventually have to pay for inmates whether they are in their state or county.

Gregory believes that things have changed, “one of the reasons seems to be the judicial process has sped up a bit.” He recently asked the state and fiscal court to add 41 bunk beds in the jail to allow more class D inmates in. He said, “I’m doing this to relieve the cost of the jail on the taxpayers of Logan County…this jail has a lot of untapped potential and it needs to be aggressively pursued.”

Former jailer Bill Jenkins had previously criticized the notion of bringing other county’s inmates, adding they would bring additional problems within the community and jail. Gregory, however, argues against this suggesting, “there has not been a case for worry for trouble…Simpson County has 200 state inmates and they have no additional troubles there and Todd County has had 90 to 100 state inmates at a time, and they too don’t have any additional troubles.”

Judge Chick, who supports the concept of increasing state inmate population numbers, added that, “we have a little concern for the numbers in July because that is when the state usually paroles…but it’s a realistic figure and it’s one we have already been running as of late. So far the increase is what the county had hoped for from the beginning.”

The National Association of Counties proposes Kentucky housing an estimated 4,000 state prisoners in their county jails. The Departments pays these local jails a par diem of $29.43 and $1.91 for routine medical care. $35.24 is paid for housing medium prisoners, including medical costs. The pay-your-way law passed in 2000 permits the 85 jails in Kentucky to charge to state up to $50 a day for room and $20 for paperwork, including other charges for special and disobedient inmates