Jail Bill: Pay To Stay?
Old saying: If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.
New saying: If you can’t pay for the time, don’t do the crime.
Straddling the intersection of recession and responsibility, a Missouri county prosecutor wants to start charging local jail inmates $45 a night for room and board, saying “It doesn’t make sense that our citizens should have to pay for the irresponsible behavior of others in these tough economic times”
In cash-strapped municipalities across the US, a pay-to-stay trend has emerged behind bars, shifting costs from taxpayers to the convicted. Salt Lake County Metro Jail is charging inmates $40 for each day spent in lock-up. At the new Springfield, Oregon lockup, convicted prisoners will be dinged $60 a night. And a county jail in Iowa even considered making inmates pay for toilet paper.
“If they are in jail, they should be responsible for their own expenses,” says one law enforcement official. “Once you start looking at things, you’re like ‘Why haven’t we thought of this before?’” A county sheriff says, “When they’ve been found guilty of a crime, they’re ordered to pay restitution back to their victims. Why shouldn’t they pay restitution back to the taxpayers?”
Critics of such plans warn that saddling inmates with big bills for jail housing could backfire. “Many of these individuals have a difficult time re-entering society anyway,” one said. “We don’t want them so burdened with debt that any legitimate attempt at re-entry is impossible, and they turn back to crime to pay the fees you just imposed on them.”
“Really,” said a law professor, “it’s a poor person’s tax.”
Tell us what you think: Should people convicted of a crime be forced to pay the costs of their jail stay? If there was no recession, should they pay? Do we as taxpayers have a responsibility to cover the costs of running our jails?
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Aren't we still paying anyway?!
Soooo, what if they are sentenced to life? How would they ever work that off when an inmate makes between .25 cents and 2 dollars a day?! Or even 6 months, when they get out, they would have to work it off along with a multitude of other fines our judicial system implements on them, not to mention the ridiculous cost of probation, court fees, and the possibility of not being able to get a decent paying job. Are they trying to make this a profit center?
Where does the money come from in the meantime? Hhhmmm… taxpayers? Or will the guards, jail admin, and warden wait for their paychecks?
Michelle Gluck | 7 months, 4 weeks ago
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Ms
They’re talking about jail, not prison. No one ever serves a life or even lengthy term in jail.
Anonymous | 7 months, 3 weeks ago
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Pay for the Time as Well as the Crime
I think making them pay something is a good idea. Like, making them pay if they want to watch tv. If they want to use workout equipment…pay. Anything that is a fun thing….they should pay….everything except the library. Because those things need to be a privilege, not a jailed given right. Heck, if they get desserts with their meals,,,,make them pay for that too! Most American families on average cant afford desserts with meals, so why should their taxes pay for criminals? They were the ones who broke the law! If it was set up so that “on this date forward” that anyone going in as of a certain date had to pay for any and all privileges in jail, more people would hesitate to do a crime and end up in there. I mean, come on. They get free sports club workouts in there and a lot of people can not afford that either.
Zenia Buffaloe | 7 months, 3 weeks ago
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You have obviously never been to a prison...
I agree that many of the people in jail are lazy and commit crimes because they are addicted to drugs or just not willing to work. But, having volunteered as a tutor in a county jail, I am amazed at the unfairness and extreme injustice that is rampant. For example, more than 80% of the inmates there are non-white; either black or Hispanic. At least 70% of them have less than a high school education. Many of them have all their family behind bars and can’t even read. If you were born in an inner-city ghetto, all of your family is either on drugs or drug dealers and you couldn’t even read a newspaper, it might seem appealing for you to make $2000-$3000/hrselling drugs. Working at Wal-Mart, they could work a 40/hr week and still not have enough money to pay their bills. I think that we need to work on teaching “life skills”, not punishing people for being ignorant. Most of the people that I taught to read were not bad people, they just were never taught the basic skills that the rest of us take for granted.
jay elliott | 7 months, 3 weeks ago
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They already do that here.
I live in Murfreesboro, TN and the Rutherford County jail here charges $20.00 per day of incarceration.
Andy H | 7 months, 3 weeks ago
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Time and Crime (pay)
What happens if the perpetrator commits the crime and cannot pay for the time (room & board)? Should they be killed?
I feel that criminals are not treated as criminals; check out the new Cook County Resort in Illinois….As an ex-Probation Officer and Parole and Community Service Agent; presently a “baby sitter” / “Teacher”, Tax payers cannot exhale; Criminals at State Capitals and Congress pass the Laws that perpetuate criminal behaviors.
Calvinh Boot | 7 months, 3 weeks ago
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I was locked up for 4 years over $102.00 worth of steaks, Advil and Clearasil. I was a wreck when I got locked up. I can say that getting locked up saved my life, but I paid when I got out. While I was locked up I kept the prison as an electrician. Don’t say I only had an apprentice card. I paid for my stay and not everybody has the same work ethic. Maybe we should start working on that one first. When I got out it took me 4 months to get the money for a drivers license. In the meantime I paid for rides, I paid for restitution, and paid to bury my mom. I am still out after 9 years, I am not angry, just scared every time I think I might have to fill out some sort of paper that will ask if I have been convicted of a felony.
Carol Hobia | 7 months, 3 weeks ago
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ms
If someone is sentenced to do time, let the time pay for that crime and not every other crime he/she committed in the past. Yes, a lot of people in jail, are undereducated in both and school and in life, but how is someone to get going the correct direction if they have enormous fees, fines, etc. when they are released. Please tell me where the money is suppose to come from? If the inmate is released and doesn’t pay, are they put back in jail.
Jail is not a social club and if someone believes that they need to spend a couple weeks in a jail. They aren’t clean, too many germs, food is close to being trash and the medical care is a joke. I know people in jail paying for their medical care, stamps and letters, dental care, food.
If a inmate has money on the books it is taken for medical care, dental, stamped envelopes, restitution, legal fees, etc. So, not all states are totally footing the bill.
What needs to be looked at is the cost of the officers that just sit all day and look at inmates through a screen and get paid $60,000, plus for doing that.
Anyway, criminals unfortunately, keep a lot of people employed. If 25%. of criminals gave up the revolving door policy, there would be a lot more people unemployed. Jails, are a public service that is suppose to serve us all.
How about treating the addicts, make sure they can read and write, obtain an GED, as a condition for release. Everyone in jail is not Charles Manson.
Pla Baca | 7 months, 3 weeks ago
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Father
We have become a society of SELF. And so are our children. Our kids today are so lost without things (x-box, name brand clothes, etc.) and families struggling to keep up with stuff for themselves and their kids to make them happy we have created a selfish and self centered environment. Let’s try something different. Legalize drugs which will empty the jails and close the probation officers spend the money on education to our children about DRUGS and ALCOHOL abuse which is so rampant (mostly pharmaceutical drugs today) in all the kids under 18 years of age. Stop this incarceration program that funds the sheriff department and probation departments around this country. The problem with this theory is THE COURT SYSTEM WILL HAVE TO FUND THEMSELVES SOMEHOW. That means SPEEDING TICKETS and ENFORCING PAYING YOUR TAXES (your real share of taxes) and PARKING FINES and FINNANCIALY MAKING US RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR KIDS (not the schools and courts) If we as parents and citizens take a little more responsibility for our children and think. The courts have the solution by becoming big business we are out of our minds PUT THE MONEY IN EDUCATION NOT JAILS AND WE WILL NOT BE DISCUSSING THIS PROBLEM.
Greg MEYERS | 7 months, 2 weeks ago
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when does it stop
we as american taxpayers pay for every sob story out there. my own family has sob stories and never asked for a hand out or committed crimes to survive… no no no my father worked 3 jobs, my mother 2 and we kids started working at early ages cutting grass, pet setting, pet bathing, pet walking, cleaning homes doing all kinds of odd jobs for the neighbors. yes drugs was everywhere and very tempting but even as a 10 yr old i knew it was wrong. so it does #### me off, that these criminals first make victims then get to lay up on their tails as a reward for making victims. for yall that think we should be leiniate and just keep paying no questions asked then go ahead, but as for me i would much rather see my tax dollars going to prevention while they are young.
rebecca mcdonald | 7 months, 2 weeks ago
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