BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PAINTSVILLE — Inmates at the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center now pay a $60 booking fee plus a $10 daily charge. Jail board members voted unanimously Aug. 28 to impose the new costs as a way to shore up declining revenue and address long-standing problems with collecting administrative fees.
“$60 booking fee, $10 per diem,” Administrator Byron Handsford confirmed after the vote.
Chairman Steve Rose added, “That is effective immediately.”
The new rate comes just two months after the jail first shifted to a per diem model. In May, the board voted to replace the flat $130 fee with a $25 booking fee plus $5 per day. That system went into effect July 1 and applied only to inmates booked on or after that date while those already incarcerated remained under the previous structure.
But Treasurer Pam Burgess told the board that revenue quickly fell short of expectations. Administrative fee collections dropped from $16,857.41 in May to $12,401.43 in June and only $9,365 in July. She said the jail often lost money because many inmates left too quickly for fees to be collected.
“We charge them a per diem and we don’t collect it,” Burgess said.
Handsford said the jail has more than $4 million in outstanding inmate debt, much of it uncollectible due to record loss and the difficulty of pursuing older cases.
“If you can get a percentage of it, you’re flying,” he said. “From June 30th back, we’re going to try to collect a percentage of that money. From July 1st to next June 30th, then the people that owe us for that year, we can go after them.”
During his report, Handsford also noted that the average inmate population over the past six months was 216 with the count currently at 188. Overtime hours for the four pay periods in July and August averaged nearly 197 hours. July housing revenue totaled $215,934, down $320 from the prior month. The commissary recorded no losses.
The board debated whether to allow inmates to participate in a work-release program, which would permit them to hold jobs outside the jail and share a portion of their wages with the facility. Supporters argued that the program could help generate revenue.
“We don’t have enough to work jobs and satisfy the counties,” Hansford admitted.
Still, he noted that under state law, such a program could help offset costs.
“If they have a minimum wage, the jail can get up to 20% or $55, whichever’s the highest,” said Hansford. “It averages out about $55. And then you have to let them open bank accounts … When they transfer money into the commissary, we can take half that money if they owe us money. So if you had 25 working, if they found jobs, it would help the jail some.”
Rose said he did not believe the board had enough information to make a decision.
“I personally don’t have enough information to vote,” he said, recommending the board revisit the matter later.
The board voted to table the item until November.
In other business, Handsford raised concerns about the jail’s computer infrastructure. One of its two servers, he said, could fail “at any time,” risking a loss of records. An estimate for replacement totaled $8,324. He proposed splitting the cost, with commissary funds covering $4,749 and the general fund paying $3,575.
“That server is what secures people’s information in here,” Handsford said. “That server is what runs our guardians and stuff … and it is needed.”
The board also approved a cost-of-living adjustment for employees hired after Jan. 1.