TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

County asks jail operator to forego hike

ADVERTISEMENT

By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: June 25, 2009

Updated: 06/25/2009 09:44 pm

BROOKSVILLE - County commissioners have asked the private company that runs the jail to forego the 4-percent annual adjustment to its contract.

With the county scrambling to build a balanced budget, it's just not in the cards right now, said an adamant Commissioner Jim Adkins.

Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) charges $57.18 per day for each inmate. If the 4 percent adjustment is passed, that goes up to $59.46 per day.

According to the purchasing department, it takes about 30 days to move an inmate through the jail system. So the 4 percent hike would rise from $1,715 a month to $1,783.

The county negotiated a five-year contract with CCA in October 2005 and it calls for a 4 percent compensation per diem rate adjustment each year.

Adkins said it might be time to consider dropping CCA when its contract expires Oct. 1, 2010, and bid it out. Or, another option, turn operations over to the county.

Privatizing may work for other entities, such as libraries, but the jail is something that may be best operated under the auspices of the county, he said.

"Could we run it cheaper? I want to say yes," Adkins said.

That would increase budget accountability, something Adkins said has been lacking from CCA.

"I feel we're not getting enough information from them to satisfy my needs," Adkins said.

Commissioner Dave Russell had kinder words for CCA, saying the company has "worked with us" in the past.

But he too said any kind of increase is not feasible right now and the county has sent a letter to CCA to that effect.

The county administrator's office is already looking into the option of having the government take over jail operations, Commissioner Rose Rocco said.

But, she said, there are numerous regulations and laws that come with running a jail and the county must determine whether such a move would make sense.

As for CCA's request for more money: "I would like to see them hold off on the 4 percent increase and work with the county," Rocco said.

After the sheriff's office, the Hernando County Jail is the second biggest drain on the county's general fund budget, and CCA's contract has risen steadily through the years.

The 2009 budget for jail operations is $13.3 million. Of that, the county pays CCA $12.8 million. The rest is money set aside for inmate medical expenses and other costs.

By comparison, the county budgeted slightly more than $4.4 million in 2003.

CCA calculates its costs based on the number of inmates housed at the jail per day and the more Hernando residents, the higher CCA charges the county.

That's why commissioners are looking to free up beds for federal or state prisoners. The county actually gains revenue from non-county inmates. Deputy County Administrator Larry Jennings said the county would have received about $400,000 this year from prisoners housed from outside Hernando.

County commissioners are also considering exploring alternative sentencing.

One option is the release of more low-risk prisoners into society with electronic ankle monitoring devices. Those could be convicted drunk drivers or those charged with misdemeanors.

The county has prepared a request for proposals and is working with the judges to determine who would administer the program, which would save the county an estimated $200,000 to $300,000.

The goal is to have that program in place by Oct. 1, the beginning of the 2010 fiscal year.

The county would work with the sheriff's office or contract with a private company that would monitor these prisoners. The ankle monitors would cost about $20 a day, much cheaper than the $57 a day it costs the county to keep the inmates in jail, Russell said.

The number of inmates at the jail has risen from an average 220 per month in 1999-2000 to the current 550 to 600 per day, according to Purchasing Director James Gantt.

Probation violators make up 50 percent of that population, Gantt said.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

ADVERTISEMENT