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| Sheriff Arpaio: No more free calls |
| By The Arizona Republic |
| Published: 02/26/2001 |
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If you go to jail, you'll still get to make a telephone call. But beginning February 28, your lawyer will get the bill. Scrounging for ways to head off a projected $5 million budget deficit, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Thursday that there will be no more free telephone calls by inmates to attorneys. Lawyers will be charged $1.91 per collect call, just as families of inmates are. A contract with Qwest kicked back $3.6 million to the sheriff last year from 2.7 million telephone calls by inmates. Charging for an estimated 600,000 annual calls from county jails to attorneys could provide an additional $500,000 to the sheriff's fund for inmate drug programs and education. The charge for legal calls follows an announcement earlier this month that daily inmate meals will be cut from three to two. Also to cut operating costs, nearly half the sheriff's lease-car fleet has been returned, and he is getting rid of a second helicopter. Taxpayer-supported public defenders handle 90 percent of suspects in jail. Charging for legal telephone calls 'robs Peter to pay Paul,' interim chief public defender James Haas said. 'At some point restricting access between client and attorney becomes unconstitutional,' Haas added. 'This would probably come pretty close to that.' |
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