The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

The media focuses its attention on the issue of who should and should not be incarcerated, noting that tougher penalties passed by the legislature for crimes such as DUI, minor drug offenses, violations of child support orders and domestic crimes have contributed to the growth in prison populations. On one side, respected University of Kentucky law professor and criminal law scholar Robert Lawson concludes that Kentucky's "lock them up and throw away the key" model has gone too far. While others such as Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson, an equally respected Fayette County prosecutor, predict rise in crime if we alter the stringent incarceration policies Kentucky now follows.

Both arguments warrant consideration over the course of the coming years. The decision of who should be incarcerated and for what length of time must be addressed and both arguments must be weighed. In the meantime, something must be done now to address the financial crisis that counties face as a result of bearing the soaring cost of operating county jails. As with the population of the state's prisons, the number of inmates being held in county jails has also exploded over the last two decades. Since the mid-1980s, county jail populations have increased tenfold.

However, the press and the public have yet to recognize the critical impact that the cost associated with housing prisoners in county jails has on county budgets across the Commonwealth. Just as the cost of housing prisoners in the state's penitentiaries has skyrocketed, so has the cost that county governments contribute to the operation of county jails.

Counties' financial future threatened by "unfunded mandate"

Counties are threatened by the possibility of bankruptcy as a result of the "unfunded mandate" of absorbing soaring jail costs. A study by the Kentucky County Judge-Executive Association shows that jails will cost the counties across the Commonwealth approximately $200 million during the 2005 fiscal year. More than $100 million of that cost will come directly from the counties' general funds. That is money that would otherwise be spent to enhance the quality of life of county residents on things that residents have the right to expect and demand from their county governments such as roads, bridges, parks, waterlines, sewers, emergency medical services and senior centers. In short, with some counties spending more than 50 percent of their total general fund budget on their jails, skyrocketing jail expenses are lowering the quality of life for county residents. For example, Union County, which has a total general fund budget of $1.5 million this year, expects to spend approximately $1 million of those funds on its jail. Just think of the services that Union County could provide to its residents if it were not forced to shoulder the burden of absorbing this cost.

Despite the explosion in the number of inmates in county jails and the cost associated with housing them, the money the state government contributes to counties for this has not increased since 1984. In fact, state contributions to the cost of operating county jails have actually decreased during the last 20 years while jail costs continue to escalate.

During the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, state officials encouraged counties to expand old jails and build new ones, promising to contract with the counties to house state inmates that would otherwise be incarcerated in state prisons. Counties across the Commonwealth respected the pleas of state officials and added jail beds believing, like Kevin Costner's character in the 1989 movie, "Field of Dreams," that "If you build it, they will come." And come they did, with the county jails across the Commonwealth now housing approximately 6,000 state inmates on any given day, but the money that the state pays counties for housing state inmates does not even cover the counties' cost of doing so, further exasperating the jail funding problem. Today, the state pays a county $26.51, including $1.91 for medical cost, per day to house a state inmate. At the same time, it pays private prisons between $30.49 and $44.19 per day, with a built-in 3 percent annual increase, while the state remains responsible for the cost of the inmate's medical care.

It is not the place of the county officials that I represent to decide between the arguments advanced by Professor Lawson and prosecutor Larson. Tougher sentences may make the state safer, but on the other hand, how many Kentuckians do we want to have in jail? Regardless of the ultimate conclusion reached by the policy makers responsible for that decision, something must be done before long to address the county jail funding crisis, before we reach the point where county government in the Commonwealth exists solely to operate the county jail. The law-abiding citizens of Kentucky's counties deserve more.

I understand that these are difficult fiscal times for state government in Kentucky and that other important issues such as Medicaid, public employee health insurance and education are all competing for the state's limited financial resources. Nevertheless, it is time for the Commonwealth to stop shirking its constitutional obligation to be financially responsible for inmates convicted of state crimes. The state must direct additional funds to help counties defray the cost of operating county jails and housing the state's inmates.

http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=11067&format
=html

Wednesday January 5, 2005

Copyright The Advocate-Messenger 2004