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| Inmates' jail fee yields little green for Minn. |
| By The Saint Paul Pioneer Press |
| Published: 09/19/2003 |
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An effort to charge Minn. jail inmates for a portion of their own incarceration cost isn't paying off as much as some county officials had hoped, and the program is losing money in at least one county. During the past year, at least one-quarter of Minnesota counties started charging for room and board. Dubbed 'pay to stay,' the purpose was two-fold: bring in money to help offset ever-rising jail costs and send a message to criminals that 'if you do the crime, you pay to do the time.' But not many inmates are bothering to pay. In the first four months, Olmsted County spent about $13,000 in administrative costs to collect $7,261. The county collected less than 2 percent of the $546,450 it billed. Now the county is switching from a sliding scale fee of up to $70 to a flat $25 fee in an effort to rein in costs. 'I think the public needs to understand that there is a good lesson here,' Olmsted County Commissioner Paul Wilson said. 'Even with the best intentions, you cannot get blood out of a turnip.' No one expected the majority of inmates to pay their bills, and many counties did not project revenue before they started. But law enforcement and court officials now are debating whether pay-to-stay efforts are a good use of staff time. Some jail administrators say the revenue isn't worth the work, and defense attorneys argue that there are more effective methods to curb escalating jail costs. Sheriffs' officials, however, say it's too soon to determine how much the fees will generate in the long term and that earning something is better than nothing. |
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