Inmate Fees Will Not Pay, Study Finds

Charging inmates for their stays in jail would cost more money than it would bring in, a county study has concluded.

The analysis by the County Administrative Office was conducted after Supervisor Mike Antonovich suggested earlier this year that forcing prisoners to pay could recoup costs of the county’s overcrowded, underfunded jail system.

The problem is that in Los Angeles County, fewer than 30% of the 18,000 inmates yearly are convicted of crimes and sentenced to jail. Under state law, those are the only class of inmates who can be charged for their jail time.

State law authorizes courts to charge inmates only after three conditions have been met: the defendant has been convicted; the confinement is part of a term of probation or sentence; the defendant has had a court hearing to determine whether he or she can afford to pay incarceration costs.

Further, the CAO study estimates that each hearing to determine whether a defendant could be forced to pay for incarceration will take about 30 minutes--at a cost of $800.

That figure, the report points out, far outstrips the average $60 per day the court could reasonably expect to collect from defendants.

“Under current law, it is unlikely that a program of charging inmates for the cost of incarceration in the county jail would generate sufficient revenue to offset the increased court costs to implement the program,” the report stated.

For the program to be effective, the study said, the county should seek state legislation to eliminate the mandatory hearing.

Finally, the study found that most defendants would probably be unable to afford any fee at all.

Still, Antonovich’s camp has not ruled out pursuing the option of charging inmates.

“We are reviewing the report and are still committed to finding funds from a variety of sources to get the needed jail beds open,” said Antonovich aide Lori Howard.