Fri, Nov 27 2009
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Pulaski Judge halts early prisoner release By RONNIE ELLISCNHI News Service But county governments are watching closely, because the state pays them $32.51 a day for housing state inmates, and many of the discharged and home incarcerated prisoners have come from county jails. That costs the counties, which collectively pumped in about $130 million from general funds to keep jails afloat last year.
LaRue County Judge-Executive Tommy Turner appealed to the Judiciary Committee Monday to not overlook the financial impact on the struggling counties. “The gain for the state is borne on the backs of the counties,” Turner said. Campbell County Judge-Executive Tom Pendery said his county built a 550-bed jail in order to house state prisoners for roughly $10,000 a year for each inmate. With the changes brought on by HB 406, he said, he’s between 60 and 70 state inmates short of capacity and that will cost his county around $650,000 a year. Pendery and Turner both concede too many people are imprisoned for either minor offenses or because of punitive enhancements to sentences – the conclusion of Lawson’s studies and the CNHI series. “And they are not better people when they leave,” Pendery said. “I understand you need to save money, but the misdemeanor cases would be the place to begin before releasing felons.” Misdemeanant inmates are the county’s responsibility and there is no revenue stream like the state payments for felons. So releasing those would lessen the burden on the counties but do nothing for state costs – the reverse of what Pendery and Turner say is happening now. The Kentucky County Judge/Executives Association is planning to sue the state to force it to pay for the time state prisoners spend in county jails before sentencing. That time isn’t covered by the state, but judges often give defendants credit for that time against their over all sentences. That saves the state money, the counties contend, but costs the counties for imprisoning them before trial. Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. 
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