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| Audit Questions Colo. Inmates' Use of Funds |
| By Denver Post |
| Published: 06/27/2003 |
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A sampling of Colorado inmates found they spent three times more on personal items from their prison accounts than they pay to court-ordered restitution and child support - a system that needs to be changed, according to an audit released recently. And counties are violating state and federal law by closing inmates' child-support cases once they are incarcerated, resulting in a loss of money for children, the audit found. At a hearing June 17, members of the Legislative Audit Committee told state Department of Corrections officials that they need to fix those problems. 'The emphasis should be on child support and restitution,' said Rep. Valentin Vigil, D-Thornton. Corrections officials said they will provide training for county employees by the end of the year to make sure inmates are made to pay child support. Seven of 10 counties sampled by the state for the report said they closed child-support cases once someone is incarcerated. The auditors also looked at 43 inmates who, in a four-month period last year, contributed $1,900 for restitution and child support while spending $6,400 at prison canteens. But officials said taking more money out of the inmate accounts, which are funded by relatives and wages paid to prisoners who work, could cause problems, especially since inmate pay was cut this year because of state budget problems. They do not anticipate taking more money from the inmate accounts in the near future. 'With inmate pay decreased, (we need to study) the impact it will have not only on our canteen but on the psychology of the inmates and how they will react,' said corrections controller Dennis Diaz. Senate Majority Leader Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, seemed sympathetic to corrections officials' reasoning. 'You have to have control of the prisons,' she said. 'It's not a bunch of Sunday-school boys down there.' But other committee members said the Corrections Department should worry more about victims and children instead of inmates. 'The big loser is the child,' said Sen. Ron Tupa, a Boulder Democrat who chairs the audit committee. 'Fifty dollars a month to someone is actually a lot of money when times are tight and someone is just trying to get by.' |
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