Funding of Constitutional Officers - Virginia Joint Legislative Audit ...

office, State funds one hundred percent ofthe difference.
hand,
a clerk's office has income in excess ofits operating costs, the excess divided between
the local government and the State: two-thirds to the local go,{ernnleIlt one-third
to the State (Code ofVirginia, §14.1-140.1).
Financial Assistance for Confinement in Local Facilities.
State funds allocated to sheriffs' offices to pay for the personnel
staff, Item 75 ofthe Appropriations Act also provides funding
in local jails. The funds help support the maintenance and opE~ration
addition to the
recognized
prisoners held
the local jails.
Approximately 85 percent ofthe funding is the costs associated
with operating thejail. Each locality receives eight dollars per day for every State
felon housed in its local jail. An additional six dollars per day is provided for each of
those felons whose sentence is longer than six months.
The amount due localities for State prisoners held local jails is determined
by the Department of Corrections (DOC), and is reviewed processed by the
Compensation Board. Local j ails periodically submit «J-7" reports Department
ofCorrections indicating the type ofprisoners held in the local jail including the length
remaining on their sentence. DOC processes the data and generates vouchers
quarterly indicating the number of prisoners which meet the
reimbursement
and the amount owed to the locality. The Board reviews the information and
sends the vouchers to the Department ofAccounts for payment the ~V'-'o..u"u;;",.
The remaining 15 percent ofthe financial assistance is allocated to some jails
to pay the salaries ofjail personnel who provide health services,
or treatment
services, education activities, and classification services. All positions approved
for these purposes are funded at two-thirds the salary of an entry level State corrections
officer. This two-third share is specified in the Code ofVirginia the intent of
stimulating a local match that would fully fund the positions. However, the one-third
share to be paid by local governments is not a required match, and known to
what extent localities actually provide such funds.
Adequacy of the Current Process
The current process for funding constitutional officers developed over many
years at a time when a budget/reimbursement method was the only reasonable
alternative available. But in recent years, the work involved in administering the
system has become overwhelming because of increases in the State's population and
because the constitutional officers now perform many different services. As has been
the case for the past 50 years, requests for funding must be on a case-by-case
basis. The State Compensation Board has inadequate resources to more than
six hundred local office budgets, and to process thousands of
requests
each year.
Further, the current budgeting process does
approval of State and local budgets. As a
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