County Considers Billing Inmates for Time in Jail

Should inmates be forced to pay a fee for the time they spend in jail?

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to study that unusual idea.

The action came as the county faces another possible budget deficit, and as the so-called “Three Strikes” legislation has filled county jail cells, created backlogs in courts and increased costs throughout the judicial system because the possibility of long prison sentences has led a large percentage of suspects to demand trials rather than to plea-bargain.

Given those problems, an aide to Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who proposed the plan, said the county needed to devise a way to pay for the costs of the county’s jails.

“The supervisor has been thinking about this because prisons in other states are doing this, and it’s worked for them,” said Antonovich aide Lori Howard. “So he wants to know why it couldn’t work for us.”

In Los Angeles County however, the pay-for-jail plan could cost more than it pulls in, because about 70% of the county’s 18,000 inmates are either awaiting trial or have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing.

State law forbids requiring such inmates to pay, said Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Sandra Davis.

That would leave about 30% of the jail population to pay, and many of those inmates probably lack the resources to pay for their jail sentences, Davis said.

“That’s one of the reasons we really need to study this, because it could end up costing more than to recover the money than we take in,” she said. “We need to find out the potential for revenue.”

A hearing would be held to determine if an inmate has the ability to pay, officials said.

Fred Ramirez, director of administrative services for the Sheriff’s Department, said he supports studying the problem.

A number of corrections facilities across the country that have a surplus of space allow prisoners from other states to be housed for a fee.

And several cities in Los Angeles County operate “weekender” programs, in which misdemeanor offenders voluntarily pay about $80 a day to spend time in local suburban jails, rather than crowded--and often more dangerous--county lockups.

The money goes into city coffers.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Lt. Dan Peavy of the San Fernando Police Department. “Generally, we have available beds, so it works out for everybody.”

Last year 168 people, mostly drunk drivers, chose the San Fernando facility rather than county jails.