Published: January 12, 2009 12:40 am      

W.Va.’s regional jail fees going up

Home confinement eases Marion impact

FAIRMONT — In an effort to keep up with the inflated costs of running jails in the Mountain State, the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority board of directors recently voted to raise the per diem rate for inmates by 72 cents.

Counties will now be charged $48.25 per inmate per day. That is up from last fiscal year’s rate of $47.53, said Joe Thornton, deputy secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. The new rate goes into effect July 1.

Although Marion County Commission President Randy Elliott said he believed the rate increase would tax some counties’ budgets, he said that hike should not adversely affect Marion. He went on to say that this was because local law enforcement, the county prosecuting attorney and judges aggressively utilize the alternative sentencing program home confinement.

“Home confinement is a wonderful tool,” Elliott said. “It saves the county about $1.3 million a year.”

During the 2008-2009 fiscal year, county commissioners budgeted $1.2 million to pay for home-confinement fees, according to a document provided by Kris Cinalli, county administrator. Currently, $610,868 has been spent on regional jail fees. During the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the county spent $1,199,951.50 of the $1.2 million budget for the regional jail fees.

“Regional jail fees are a big part of every counties’ budget,” Elliott said. “But I don’t foresee them becoming a problem in Marion because of the home-confinement program.”

Home confinement is when a convicted offender is allowed to stay at home instead of being sent to a jail. The criminal is monitored at home using electronic devices, said Lt. Wesley Dobbs, Marion County home-confinement supervisor. Dobbs said those sentenced to home confinement have typically been convicted of a non-violent offenses, with the majority being driving-under-the-influence crimes.

Under the conditions of home confinement, the criminal must pay for the service, which costs $10 per day, Dobbs said. He added that there are currently 72 criminals serving home confinement sentences. Those serving their sentences on home confinement must also participate in counseling. For example, if people were sentenced to home confinement because of an alcohol-related crime, they would be required to participate in alcohol rehabilitation counseling, Dobbs said.

“They have to show that they’re trying to help themselves while they are on home confinement,” Dobbs said.

He said not only is the home-confinement program self-sufficient, but it also adds to the county’s coffers. Last year approximately $122,000 went into the county’s budget from home-confinement fees.

“I think it’s a really good program,” Dobbs said.

According to Thornton, the regional jail fees are being increased because of an increase in the costs of utilities. He added that Public Employees Insurance Agency premiums have also increased. He went on to say that the rate increase could have been much more, but members of the Regional Jail Authority decided to postpone needed maintenance for the jails in order to keep the fees down.

“The authority’s board really tries to keep jail fees down,” Thornton said. “We know that they’re hard on the counties.”

Although the board voted to increase the fees, the revenue generated may not be enough to cover jail costs, Thornton said. The authority board members budgeted for a 15 percent increase in utilities, he said. However, many experts said the authority should have increased the utility budget by 30 percent, Thornton said.

“So the regional jail authority could take a hit,” he said.

Thornton said that the members of the regional jail authority’s board has also decreased fees in the recent past. He pointed out that during the 2007-2008 fiscal year, regional jail fees were $48.50. They were decreased to $47.53 last fiscal year. He added that the fees were lowered during that time because the regional jail authority board members had discovered surplus money in the budget. That money was put back into the authority’s budget the following year, allowing for the decrease in fees. Thornton went on to say that West Virginia’s jail costs are some of the lowest in the nation.

The West Virginia Regional Jail Authority is a special revenue agency. That means the authority, and hence the jails, operate entirely from money generated by the regional jail fees. The state Legislature does not appropriate funds for the jail authority.

E-mail Paul Fallon at pfallon@timeswv.com.