Pubdate: Thu, 23 May 2002 Source: Messenger-Inquirer (KY) Copyright: 2002 Messenger-Inquirer Contact: http://www.messenger-inquirer.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1285 Author: Justin Willis STATE DELAYING PAYMENTS TO JAILS Daviess Owed $460,000 On Inmates A combination of state budget problems and an unusually high inmate population is being blamed for a major financial shortfall affecting more than half of the jails in Kentucky. The Department of Corrections recorded a shortfall in the account which compensates the 69 Kentucky jails that incarcerate "state" inmates, said Lisa Carnahan, the department's communication director. A state inmate is a prisoner convicted and sentenced for a felony crime. The state pays county jails $27.51 each day to house those inmates. At least two jails, Daviess County Detention Center and the Breckinridge County Detention Center, have not received compensation since February. The state owes the Daviess County jail more than $460,000 for March and April, Daviess County Jailer Harold Taylor said. By July the state will owe Breckenridge County more than $400,000, said Jailer Louis Carman. The setback is temporary, and payments are expected to continue in July, Carnahan said. The problem was caused by a statewide increase in inmates and by the state's budget problems, she said. "Counties aren't going to lose any money as a result of this," Carnahan said. "It's just a delay in payment." In June 2001, 15,808 inmates were in jails throughout the state, she said. This week there were 16,422. Last June there were 4,115 state inmates, but this week the number was 4,501, she said. Of the 4,501 state inmates in Kentucky this week at least 3,100 were in county jails, Taylor said. In July, when the new fiscal year begins, the back and current payments should arrive, Carnahan said. Smaller jails may have a more difficult time absorbing the shortfall, Taylor said. The Daviess County jail can accommodate the shortfall despite the outstanding payments, Taylor said. "I've got enough in reserves to carry us through," he said. Taylor, who is president of the Kentucky Jailers Association, said he was recently notified of the problem after he fielded telephone calls from jails throughout the state inquiring about the payments. The payments stopped arriving without advance notice, he said. "Especially to your smaller counties," Taylor said, "it would have certainly been advantageous to alert them." The Breckenridge County jail housed 109 state inmates this week, Carman said. The county jail operates mainly on the compensation received from the state, he said. Carman said he was uncertain if the county would have to seek temporary relief for the jail. "It's not the jail's fault," Carman said. "It's not the county's fault. It's the state's fault. We've called up checking on it, and they say they're out of money." Many county jails in Kentucky, such as the facilities in Ohio and Hancock counties, do not house state inmates. The state's financial shortfall does not affect them. Muhlenberg County's jail lodges state inmates, but the jailer was unavailable for comment. The state's budget for the Department of Corrections is one of the hardest to predict, and easily altered if other departments allocate additional money for more officers, Taylor said. "Every time you increase the number of law enforcement personnel you increase the population in the jails," he said. When the 2001-02 budget was prepared during 1998-99, it was nearly impossible for the corrections department to anticipate the influx of methamphetamine in Kentucky or fluctuating crime waves. Other factors such as federal grants to form crime-fighting task forces or federal dollars to pay for overtime may affect the population in jails, Taylor said. Most state inmates at the Daviess County jail are those who are awaiting an opening at a state penitentiary; probation violators; and certain classifications of prisoners sentenced to less than five years. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens