Sheriffs want more state funding for jails

Sheriffs from across Missouri last week lobbied lawmakers in an attempt to secure more state funding to cover the cost of housing prisoners who are awaiting court dates, serving sentences or back in jail for probation and parole violations.

An interim House committee is studying sheriff's office operations statewide, and plans to propose legislation that could be considered when lawmakers return to the Capitol in January for a new session.

Though not among the elected law officers who traveled to Jefferson City, Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White said Monday the issue of more state funding for county jails has been around for some time. He added that, given continuing budget pressures, additional appropriations from the General Assembly are unlikely.

"I would be shocked if we did (receive more state funding for prisoner maintenance)," White said. "This is a fight that's been going on for several years, but I don't anticipate them coming up with any more funding than they already have."

Which doesn't mean more dollars aren't needed. In the wake of the Great Recession, and an ensuing decline in state revenues, White said the per diem subsidy the Legislature provides to help counties feed, clothe and house prisoners has fallen from around $30 to $19.59.

Counties commonly claim it costs them between $30 and $45 a day to keep one prisoner behind bars. White thinks those estimates may be somewhat inflated, but said there is no question that Nodaway must now pick up a far greater share of the jail tab than was the case several years ago.

He said the biggest cost variable is food, since many expenses — staff, utilities, equipment and maintenance — cost the same whether the jail contains one prisoner or 50.

A reasonable state per diem, White thinks, "would be back up in that $30 range, where it was at one time. Because certainly costs have gone up and not down."

One argument sheriffs are making in their quest for more funds involves basic fairness, since many of the inmates they house are, in effect, state prisoners either on their way to prison or in jail due to probation and parole violations related to abbreviated prison sentences.

White said one answer is simply to make criminals serve out their full sentences in state Department of Corrections custody.

To those who argue that keeping inmates in prison costs even more, White counters with his belief that many convicts on probation or parole are supported by tax dollars in the form of housing assistance, food stamps and other social programs.

"We're funding their life whether they are in prison or out of prison, and when they are out of prison they are committing more crimes," White said. "So I would argue that we would be far better off if we had them in prison."

Jail prisoners are required to reimburse the county for their stay, and White said Nodaway County receives about $200,000 in such payments each year. The total Sheriff's Department budget, including salaries and non-jail expenditures, is about $1.2 million.

The jail currently houses an average of around 30 prisoners, but sometimes fills up with as many as 40 or 50 inmates.

One of White's colleagues, Pettis County Sheriff Kevin Bond, told lawmakers last week that nearly every inmate who comes into his 210-bed west-central Missouri jail is accused of violating a state law, yet local taxpayers end up covering many of the costs associated with food, medical care and housing.

"We're seeing the counties being crippled on an ever-increasing basis, and I think that's creating an issue where the partnership is beginning to erode between the state and the counties," said Bond, who estimated his per-day costs per prisoner at $45.

While at the Capitol, the sheriffs suggested allowing jails to be part of state government's contract for prison medical services.  Other ideas include establishing a central collection agency to intercept tax refunds and lottery winnings to pay off inmates' debts.

In addition to funding, the committee has focused on such topics as requiring candidates for sheriff to have a peace officer's license and sheriff salaries, which currently average around $50,000, about $25,000 less that a Missouri State Highway Patrol sergeant.