BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

PAINTSVILLE — Big Sandy Regional Detention Center is on pace to finish the fiscal year with a deficit of a half million dollars. That information came to light in an April 24 board meeting.

The board conducted the first reading of a proposed budget that slashes expenditures but still results in a net increase in spending — primarily driven by rising payroll costs.

The board also opened a discussion on overhauling how the jail charges inmates, including shifting from a one-time booking fee to a daily per-diem system and pursuing unpaid fees through collections.

Despite roughly $84,500 in proposed expense reductions — targeting food service, inmate programs and employee insurance — the center’s total budget for the upcoming fiscal year is expected to rise by more than $87,000 to $3.76 million. The hike, officials say, is due to mounting personnel costs.

“I’ve cut wherever I could,” said Pam Burgess, the jail’s treasurer. “But even with those cuts, we’re still increasing the budget because of payroll. It’s astronomical.”

Burgess warned against approving any cost-of-living raises in the coming year. She noted the jail’s projectory to finish the current fiscal year with a deficit of half a million dollars.

“You should never, ever, ever give a COLA raise after the budget’s been ratified because it’s not built in,” she said. “We can’t even pay the insurance we owe this year.”

The budget anticipates a $226,559 drop in revenue, including nearly $200,000 less in projected state income and $29,400 less from inmate programming, reflecting lower jail population figures. Expense cuts include $25,000 in employee insurance, $23,000 from the equipment fund, and $20,000 from food service, alongside smaller trims across utilities, office supplies and vehicle costs.

With limited room left for additional cuts, attention turned to revenue-generating measures. Board members and jail administrator Byron Hansford discussed replacing the jail’s existing $130 flat booking fee with a per-diem model. This would have inmates paying a small daily charge for the duration of their incarceration.

Hansford also mentioned charging inmates for the cost of certain medical services, including medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, such as methadone and Suboxone.

“KRS allows you to charge inmates for medical costs up to the full expense,” Hansford said. “It’s $110 a week for methadone, $39 a week for Suboxone. That’s something we can recoup.”

Hansford further recommended referring unpaid booking fees to collections agencies — a measure he said could help recover long-ignored debts.

“They know they don’t have to pay it and they know there’s no consequence,” he told the board. “But if you start hitting some of them with a collection agency that may change.”

Hansford acknowledged that long-term incarcerations under the current fee structure yield little revenue. For instance, a one-year stay at the jail — charged only the $130 booking fee — amounts to just 36 cents per day.

“You could charge a booking fee and a per diem,” he said. “Say $5 a day — that’s $1,825 for a year. Even at $15 a day, that’s $5,475. But you’d have to lower the booking fee upfront.”

Under state law, facilities must reimburse fees if a person is acquitted.

The Big Sandy Regional Detention Center board meets monthly on the third Thursday at 6 p.m.