County Council: Make inmates pay

As budget problems befall the Dubois County Community Corrections, County Council president Greg Kendall wants to see inmates paying their bills or being sent back to jail.

According to Kendall, the county invested $3.5 million into the construction of the corrections facility. After that initial investment, the facility was supposed to be self-sufficient through federal and state grants as well as the fees inmates pay. These fees are part of the inmates’ agreements to take part in the community corrections program rather than stay in jail.

The program allows the inmates to take part in work release. Allowing inmates to work allows them to still contribute the tax base of the county and take care of their families. This reduces the tax burden on the county to house criminals in the security center and it also reduces the crowding.

The council approved $44,242 to be added to the facility’s budget to cover employees’ pay till the end of the year but were leery of what would happen in January.

In September, J.P. Weisheit, Community Corrections director, requested the funds be added to the department’s budget. He told the council that inmates were not paying the required fees and he was having trouble collecting. Several issues were named in collecting, namely that those fees were collected after other garnishments, such as child support, had been paid.

Kendall stated he has contacted other Indiana counties with similar programs and their solution was to place the offenders back into jail if they missed payments. He explained the county should adopt a similar stance and this would, in his opinion, make an example of a few inmates and stop the problem.

The council hasn’t seen any numbers in regards to how far behind inmates are on their payments to the facility overall. Councilman Jerry Hunefeld, who is on the Community Corrections Board, stated the board may be learning that number at the scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

Hunefeld told the council they have been dealing with this problem with the community corrections facility for many years but putting the inmates back into jail puts the cost of medical care and room and board back on the county. It also removes a source of income for many families who rely on the inmates taking part in the work release program.

Kendall told the council he would not continue to support the department if some efforts weren’t taken to begin collecting from the inmates.

Dubois County Auditor Kathy Hopf advised the board she had forwarded information about a collection agency that had been successfully used by her department but Weisheit had stated the agency had not worked out for the department for its collection needs.

Kendall told Dubois County Superior Court Judge Mark McConnell, who was there requesting additional appropriations and a transfer of funds within his department, that something had to be done to increase collections from the inmates. Judge McConnell and Circuit Court Judge William Weikert would have to order the inmates back into jail for the lack of payments and Kendall sees this as a way to stop the non-payments and increase the department’s revenue.

The council also took the following actions.

-Approved a $90,000 additional appropriation to the highway department for fuel expenses for the rest of the year.

-Approved raising the salary of a part-time sanitation truck driver to $2 below that of a full-time driver. Highway superintendent Steve Berg stated the part-time employee was hired under the stipulation his pay would be $2 per hour less than a full time driver. The employee raises approved for 2014 pushed the pay difference greater than the $2. Berg stated the pay scale was appropriate for the employee who is responsible for maintaining his CDL license requirements out of his own pocket.

-Approved advertising for an additional $30,000 appropriation for Judge McConnell for the pauper defense fund. This pays for legal representation for the accused if it is approved. $20, 000 would go to replenish the fund and $10,000 would be used to pay for an expert witness used for an arson trial.

-McConnell also requested a transfer $5,000 to cover the cost of new reporting equipment and $2,500 to pay for law books. This was approved.

-County Coroner Bob Veatch requested addition funds to cover the cost of autopsies to the end of the year. The council approved advertising for $15,000 to be appropriated.