Ex-inmates owe jail $1.5 million

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By The Gleaner (Ky.)

Published: 10/27/2003

Some former inmates may have paid their debt to society, but they still owe the Henderson County, Ky., Detention Center about $1.5 million.
County inmates are supposed to pay a $17 per-day housing fee during the time of their incarceration, according to Cathy Davis, a jail administrative officer. They are also responsible for booking fees and any medical bills.
Upon release, inmates sign documents that indicate what they owe.
To date, ex-inmates owe $1,579,486.42.
That total includes expenses such as the daily housing fee, booking fees, dental bills, doctor bills, medication, medical co-payments and hospital visits, among others, Davis said.
Of that $1.5 million, the unpaid daily, or per diem, fee comes to $1,188,048.63, she said.
"The per diem is the worst," she said, adding that out of the roughly $1.1 million that's owed less than $50,000 has been collected.
The amount owed to the jail in per diem fees has been accruing since Nov. 1, 2000, when the housing fee system was instituted, Davis said.
Collecting more of the unpaid fees could help a tight budget situation at the jail.
A combination of fewer state inmates -- for which the state pays to house here -- and more local inmates triggered a round of spending cuts in county government this year as Henderson Fiscal Court worked out its annual budget.
Col. Ron Herrington, chief deputy jailer, said the detention center will be working with the county attorney's office to try to recover more of the unpaid inmate fees.
But the jail is still in the developmental stage of getting a system in place to collect the funds, Davis said.
McCollom said the county attorney's office has a few options available when trying to get the money.
If the person had jail time probated they can be put back in jail, he said. A judge can then order work release in which the person can leave the detention center to go to work.
Also, McCollom said, a person's wages can be garnisheed.
"We'll also do things to help people get jobs," he said. "We can send them to the unemployment office to help them get jobs.
Getting reimbursed by those who were temporarily held at the county facility and then sent to a state prison to serve their time may prove impossible, Herrington said.
"There's no system in place (to track them) right now," he said.

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