Housing inmates is a big expense

The cost of housing inmates in the Dodge County Jail is one of the biggest expenses for Dodge County officials.

By county department, Dodge County corrections has the largest budget among the 20 separate offices and departments that are budgeted with county funds. The request for the 2006-2007 fiscal year, which could be approved next month, is for more than $1.3 million.

The Dodge County Sheriff is the only other department with an annual budget of more than $1 million.

Dodge County Jail administrator Doug Campbell said housing inmates is expensive.

“This costs the people of Dodge County a lot of money,” Campbell said, adding that the costs will continue to go up each year.

Part of the problem, he said, is that inmates take advantage of the county's requirement to pay for their medical needs while they're housed in the jail.

“Medical costs are one of our biggest expenses,” he said.

Not only is the county responsible to pay for any illness or injury that may occur while people are in the jail, the county also must pay dental and medication costs for inmate.

Sometimes, new inmates will come in with a plastic bag of prescription bottles that have to be filled, and sometimes, Campbell said, they hadn't taken those prescriptions for a while because of the expense.

“Then we have to fill them,” he said.

Other times, some people come in who need dental work - something more prevalent with people who use methamphetamine, he said.

“Some people will come in here who have pains that are either dental or medical related, and they have masked those pains with either alcohol or illegal drugs. Then when they come in here they no longer have access to the alcohol or illegal drugs, and we have to deal with it.”

That usually means trips to a dentist or a physician - expenses that must be picked up by county taxpayers, he said.

Campbell has asked for just more than $129,000 for medical costs for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. Medical costs have steadily climbed each year. In the 2003-2004 fiscal year, just more than $96,000 was budgeted.

To add to those costs, Campbell said Dodge County has more inmates than there are room for. On average the past three months, Dodge County has had to send about 20 inmates to other facilities at a cost of between $50 and $75 per day for each inmate, depending on which county is housing them.

The 2006-2007 budget calls for just more than $200,000 to house inmates in other jail facilities.

“The problem is that we have no control over how many inmates we have in the system,” Campbell said. “The number of inmates can change from day to day.”

Sentences for people sentenced to the Dodge County Jail from Dodge County Court Judge Kenneth Vampola can range from 48 hours to 364 days.

“We have to stay on top of things all the time,” Campbell said. “When we get inmates scattered to other facilities like this, it can cause headaches.”

When Inmates are housed in Douglas, Madison, Platte, Washington or any other nearby county, Dodge County Jail staff has to keep up with where everyone is and make sure they are back in Dodge County for any scheduled conferences with probation staff or any court appearances.

“It can be a logistical nightmare,” Campbell continued. “Going to get them from other facilities and then taking them back just adds to the cost for taxpayers.”