SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Recovery of Jail Booking Fees Sought
The City Council has passed an ordinance to recover jail booking fees the city pays to the county each time someone is arrested here and transported to the County Jail.
The council unanimously agreed Tuesday to try to recover part of the $158 it pays for each prisoner arrested here and handed over to the county.
“If there’s any way you can figure out how to do it . . . let’s give a crack at it,” Councilwoman Collene Campbell said.
The city has budgeted $63,200 to cover jail booking fees for fiscal year 1994-95. City officials hope to recover about 20%--or $12,640--by hiring a private collection firm. The company would only be paid if it collected the money, said sheriff’s Lt. Paul Sullivan, the city’s chief of police services.
Sullivan told the council that the city wants to develop a regional collection system with other South County cities to tackle what could become a growing budget drain.
The Sheriff’s Department is to suggest proposals to South County cities within the next few months.
“The primary goal and challenge here will be to develop a collection strategy,” City Manager George Scarborough said.
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