County officials say $22 is not enough
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Wednesday we told you how the Pulaski County Sheriff has maxed out his budget to run the county jail. Commissioners there have no prospects for a tax increase, and face the need to borrow money to make ends meet. They tell KRCG's Mallory McGowin they should get more money from the state to house suspects charged by the state.
It's Missouri Statute Chapter 221, Section 105: as of July 1997, the state can reimburse a county up to $37.50 per day per prisoner when that inmate is convicted and transferred to a Missouri Department of Corrections facility.
But, the state does not have to reimburse the full amount, and that's exactly what's been happening.
We checked, and for the 2007 fiscal year, that reimbursement rate was $20 per day per prisoner. It's $21.25 for the current fiscal year and will then rise to $22 for 2009.
"We have more prisoners than our jail will house. So we have those out at 35 dollars a day," says Pulaski County Presiding Commissioner Bill Ransdall. "Well, the most we can get back's $22 a day...I mean even those we're holding for the state we're losing money on."
"These prisoners that are being held here are not being held on so to speak county charges; they're being held on violations of state statute. So, they're in effect state prisoners, state charges, how ever you want to phrase it," says Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King. "So, if the state allocates $37.50 in the statute, then my own personal belief is they should be paying closer to $37.50 instead of $22."
So why is the reimbursement rate not closer to the $37.50 maximum, especially when the state had a budget surplus this year?
According to state officials the answer is simple, the General Assembly has not appropriated a higher amount.
When it comes to the budget surplus, Missouri Office of Administration Commissioner Larry Schepker believes the General Assembly is hesitant to approve a large increase when there is no guarantee this extra money will be available in years to come. Schepker says the surplus is being used to cushion possible economic downturns and fill in existing budget gaps.
County compensation for holding inmates before conviction is an issue consistently discussed by state officials when it comes to funding priorities. Franklin County Senator John Griesheimer this year sponsored legislation to impose a new $10 court fee to increase state compensation to counties for jailing state inmates. That bill never got out of the senate.
