A promise fulfilled:
Increased funding for state prisoners in county jails.
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One of the long standing problems in Arkansas is public
safety and the ability of the county jails to operate effectively. County jails are faced with the challenges of
finding bed space to house prisoners and funding the operational costs to manage
and maintain their current census of prisoners.
In Arkansas, the average daily cost to house a prisoner
in a county jail is $40. Some county
jails operate with a lower cost per day and some, like Pulaski County operate
at a higher cost per day. In fact, in
Pulaski County, the average daily cost for prisoners is $52/day due to the
larger facility. The cost for each jail
varies depending on factors including capacity of jail and age and type of
facility. It is important to understand
the county jails are facilities that often house prisoners until they are found
guilty and then transferred to state facilities. Here lies a major problem; the state is often
slow to transfer prisoners and only reimburses the county jail in the amount of
$28/day even though the actual cost to the county to house state prisoners is
higher. This daily rate of $28 is paid to the
counties even though it costs the state $56/day to house prisoners in the state
facilities. Additional costs of medical
expenses that are incurred by these state prisoners are costs that must be paid
from the county's public safety budget.
With this current arrangement, the state lacks any financial incentive
to move their prisoners in a timely manner.
In fact, it saves money for the state because it currently costs them
half as much to house prisoners in county jails. Some counties are forced to pay for the
shortfall of this underfunded mandate. As a result, in some cases, county jail beds are left empty and criminals are returned to the streets because operational funds are depleted.
The number one function of any government is to protect
its citizens, yet by the state not paying for the costs of these prisoners they
force the jails to turn away criminals. In some cases, all the police can do
is give thieves a ticket when they catch them coming out of a house carrying your
flat screen TV. They are set free to continue preying on our communities and most likely graduate up to
bigger and more serious crimes. Laws don't work without a deterrent and fear of
going to jail. We have created a
catch-and-release criminal justice system that threatens our neighborhoods and
communities.
One of the promises I made when I ran for state
representative was to do my best to remedy the long standing problems of the
county jails in order to make Arkansas a safer place to live work and play.
On Wednesday March 4th, House bill 1590 that I sponsored to meet this problem was approved in the Committee for City County and Local affairs. This bill changes the
reimbursement amount to 40.00 per day per prisoner, bridging the gap between the
county's cost and what the state should be paying the county for holding their
prisoners. The last time this rate was
increase was 2001, and since has not even been increased even to keep pace with
inflation. However, this increase will have only a $7.1 million impact on the state's
annual budget. I believe it is important
that government take this active role in keeping Arkansans safe by enabling
county jails to serve their role in the community. I will need your support to insure this bill passes the full House and then is able to the Senate and be signed by the Governor.
I agree with Governor Beebe in that we have to increase
Economic Development and education is an extremely important part of that. But
we can be the number one state in the U S for test scores and businesses will
still pass us by if they are not going to feel safe building a business here.
This $7.1 million will go directly into the operations costs of these county
jails and keeping criminals off the streets.
Economic Development, more jobs, safer cities and
counties --- that is why HB1590 must pass!
Representative Allen Kerr
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