COUNTYWIDE : Thousand Oaks Joins Booking Fee Protest

Thousand Oaks has joined three other Ventura County cities in refusing to pay fees for booking prisoners into the County Jail, officials said Tuesday.

City Atty. Mark G. Sellers said he intends to file a formal protest of the fee in a letter to the county auditor.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors adopted the fees in September as a way to partially offset a $6-million cut in state funds. To make up for the shortfall, the county decided to charge cities $120 for each suspect or prisoner sent to the County Jail.

“We question the legal basis for such a fee,” Sellers said. “I know of no city that has paid it.”

Thousand Oaks owes about $89,760 for the period from July to January.

Officials in the cities of Camarillo, Ojai and Simi Valley have already challenged the $120-per-person fee by filing a formal protest, County Auditor and Controller Norman Hawkes said.

None of the 10 cities in the county has paid the booking fees, which total $635,000. Hawkes said another round of bills is scheduled to go out next month.

Officials from other cities said they doubt whether any city will pay.

“We declared the fee invalid, and we told them we weren’t going to pay it,” Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said. “It’s just a crazy way to do business.”