From the Editor - Prison Legal News

Cost Shifting (cont.)
community. 51 What these figures mean is
that one in every 136 U.S. residents was in
prison or jail. 52 There were 1,446,269 people
in prison, and 747,529 people in jail, 53 figures
representing a 1.7 percent growth in prison
and a 4.7 percent growth in jail populations. 54
Over 4.1 million people were on probation,
and 784,408 people were on parole. 55 By
yearend 2005 both the probation and parole
populations had grown, 0.5 percent and 1.6
percent respectively. 56 Fifty- five percent of
those on probation are white, 30 percent are
African-American, and 13 percent are Latina.
57 Parole data show whites comprised 41
percent, African-Americans, 40 percent, and
Latinos, 18 percent of adults on parole. 58
Along with the burgeoning population of
people in jails and prisons or on probation
or parole, the cost of the criminal justice
system has grown, leading policymakers and
legislators scrambling to find new sources of
revenue without jeopardizing their political
futures by raising taxes.
Jail Fees are Common, and Costly
In 2005 the U.S. Department of Justice,
National Institute of Corrections
surveyed state jails across the country “[t]
o explore the extent to which local jails
are charging fees to jail inmates,” “[t]o
learn the actual amounts of the fees that
are being charged and the revenues that
are being generated,” and “[t]o learn jail
managers’ views on the effectiveness of
charging fees.” 59 This 2005 survey does not
reflect a representative national sample,
however it does provide “substantial
information on jails’ current practices
related to charging inmates for programs
and services.” 60
The report classifies jail fees as either a
“‘program fee’ . . . charged to jail inmates
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who are participating in a program that
is not a basic element of jail operations,
or who are receiving a program-related
service”; 61 or, alternatively, as non-program
fees assessed in relation to everyday facility
operations and services. 62 The purposes of
non-program fees are to offset administrative
costs, the costs of housing prisoners,
costs of providing routine services (like
phone service and hair cuts), the expense of
medical services, and to deter the frivolous
use of medical services. 63 Ninety percent of
the jails that responded were charging jail inmate
fees, 64 with the most common charges
being in the “non-program” fee category for
health-related services, like prescriptions (59
percent of respondents) and physician visits
(59 percent of respondents), and participation
in work release programs (58 percent
of respondents). These findings corroborate
those of a 1997 NIC study of the largest jails
nationwide that found “charging of inmate
fees is both prevalent and increasing among
the agencies surveyed,” with the most common
charges imposed for medical care and
participation in work release programs, and
the most revenues generated by telephone
services, work release programs, and home
detention. 65
The table below summarizes the
prevalence of jail fees and was created by
6
the 2005 NIC Jail Fees Report of 2004
jail revenues. The NIC report captured
program and non-program categories, as
well as the number of agencies assessing
the fee and the total annual revenues received
from all survey respondents.
State jail officials regularly collect fees
from prisoners by deducting the fees from
funds – often deposited by family members
– in prisoner accounts and by taking
cash directly from them upon arrest. In a
2006 lawsuit challenging collection practices
in Kenton and Campbell counties
in Kentucky, a federal court upheld the
jails’ right to deduct money directly from
commissary accounts of jail prisoners. 66
Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson
called the decision “an important
victory for all counties,” concluding “[t]
he order recognizes that inmates, not the
taxpayers, should bear the costs of their
67 68
own incarceration.”
Dean v. Lehman, 69 a 2001 case decided
by the Washington State Supreme
Court, also addressed the legality of automatic
deduction of funds from inmate
accounts. RCW 72.09.480(2), a 1995 state
statute, “authoriz[ed] specified deductions
from any outside funds sent to DOC
inmates.” 70
Husbands and wives depositing funds
Fee category Number of Agencies revenues
A
assessing this fee
Medical care 121 $1,506,000
(Including several sub-categories of
services; see pp. 18-27 for details)
Telephone use 87 4,465,000
Per diem 77 7,213,000
(Including comprehensive per diem
fees plus separate food- and housingspecific
fees)
Booking 73 4,346,000
Photocopying 69 137,000
Barber/hair care 52 31,000
Bonding 33 631,000
Escort 31 28,000
Notary service 20 303
Laundry 12 136,000
Check processing 5 6,000
Detoxification on intake 2 25,000
Source: Barbara Krauth & Karin Stayton, U.S. Dept’ of Justice, Nat’l Inst. of Corr., Fees Paid by Jail
Inmates: Fee Categories, Revenues, and Management Perspectives in a Sample of U.S. Jails, 17 (Connie
Clem, ed., 2005)
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