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January 20, 2007
NY: Albany reaps reward from jail space
Albany Times Union
Albany reaps reward from jail space
Feds, state and counties paid nearly $5 million last year to hold inmates
By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
Friday, January 19, 2007
COLONIE -- The county jail received nearly $5 million last year in boarder revenue from other counties and the state and federal governments to lodge their inmates, according to figures released this week.
The boarder program has been a boon for the county since its inception in 1990, bringing in $71 million over 17 years.
Last year's boarder revenue of $4.9 million was a drop from 2005 when the county received $5.5 million. The figures are released annually by Sheriff James Campbell and jail Superintendent Thomas J. Wigger.
The Albany County Correctional Facility on Albany Shaker Road has a capacity of 1,030 inmates. Its daily population ranges from 750 to 800, Campbell said.
Empty cells are rented out to the federal and state governments and other counties whose facilities are overcrowded.
Under a federal contract with Albany County, jail officials guarantee cell space for 30 federal inmates who are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The county received $2.2 million last year from the marshals, at a daily rate of $91.53 per inmate. Five counties that had a shortage of cells paid $100 per inmate for a total of over $1.5 million. Greene, Schenectady and Rensselaer are neighboring counties. Ulster is just south of Greene while Suffolk is on Long Island.
The state houses its parole violators at the Albany jail. It also often pays for "state-ready" inmates, who have been sentenced to prison and are waiting to be placed in a state correctional facility. It is often several days before the state is ready to take those inmates, according to Campbell.
The state's per diem rate is $40 an inmate. The county received $1.1 million last year for housing those inmates.
Other payments brought the total to just under $5 million.
"Thankfully, the members of the Albany County Legislature had the foresight to look to the future when they planned the renovation and expansion of the old jail," Campbell said. "Their circumspection has allowed the county to take care of our own correctional needs, and at the same time, generate boarder revenue ... by utilizing our empty cells."
Wigger credited jail employees for their work in supporting the boarder program.
County income
Five counties paid rent last year to board inmates at the Albany County
jail:
Greene: $62,500
Rensselaer: $675,300
Schenectady: $211,700
Ulster: $84,300
Suffolk: $563,600
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=555275&category=ALBANY&BC
Code=&newsdate=1/19/2007
Posted by lois at January 20, 2007 02:24 PM