KY county Jails: overview: 72% overcrowded.

A report from the State Auditor, Crit Luallen,
KENTUCKY JAILS: A FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
February 2006 in two volumes
www.auditor.ky.gov.
Summary by Rev. Dr. Paschal Baute

OVERCROWDING EXISTS IN MORE THAN TWO OUT OF THREE OF OUR COUNTY JAILS. We treat drug and alcohol problems in Kentucky mainly by incarceration.

"This study was undertaken after numerous independent county government officials voiced concerns about rising costs of incarceration. In some instances as much as 45% of the county's general fund budget is being dedicated annually to cover local jail expenditures.

Highlights of the Executive Summary.

Kentucky had the nation's 5th highest percentage growth in inmate population in 2004. We ranked second nationally in percentage of State and Federal inmates held.

County Jails. Official capacity is 15,667, but the average is 2000 inmates higher. County jails cost $244 million in fiscal year 2005/

No systematic accounting method exists: costs and expenditures are not well tracked.

Cost of operating jails varies widely, with cost per day ranging from $19. To $84. With an average cost of 36.

Personnel costs, food costs and Health costs all vary widely

Food costs vary from .65/ Per meal to 4.66

Many counties believe that expanding their jails and attracting more state inmates will reduce the overall burden of costs.

Life - Safety jails are expensive to operate.

Overcrowding exists in 53 of the 73 full service and regional jails.

Management of medical costs is a major challenge. State reimbursement is inherently unfair, as some counties actually profit ... from this procedure.

Inconsistency in accounting for inmate fees creates an opportunity for additional revenue, as past due accounts reported total $22 million.

In 2005, the state paid $9.2 milliin less than its proportionate share of costs based on its share of inmate days.

The state's practice of leaving state prisoners in county jails (via controlled intake) or placing state prisoners in county jails either exacerbates or causes overcrowding in 53 of the state's full service and regional jails. Continued overcrowding may lead to federal lawsuits and liability issues.

(Paschal’s note: this ratio means that overcrowding exists in 72% of the county jails, that is, more than two out of three. I have offered volunteer programs in ministry and treatment for addiction in one county jail three times in 2005, and have not yet received either a hearing or even a review of a program well established and recommended by the staff, in the Fayette County Detention Center. I brought this fact to the Corrections Director’s attention at a Prison Ministry and Prison Reform conference organized by the local Catholic Conference in Lexington last fall. His response was that this refusal was against correctional policy.)

Auditors Recommendations are 14 in number and involve the Department of Corrections, other offices and the county jailors. "The lack of an integrated corrections system including the county jail means imbalance in he geographical distribution of facilities, the loss of opportunity fo rthe development of programming for subsets of the inmate population, such as drug or alcohol sbuse programs, unfair cost shifting to some local governments, and lost opportunity for improved efficiency and cost savings."

“It can be noted that the human cost of this inefficiency, overcrowding, and lack of programming to the inmate population is not addressed.”

Basically, Kentucky is treating ADI (Alcohol, Drug and Illegal Prescription substances) by incarceration. We are simply locking up our abusing citizens without any rehabilitation available. Since 80% of the offenses are ADI, we are jailing about ten to fifteen thousand addicts in our state. Recidivism averages about 60-70%. We have shown in the Drug Court programs in Fayette County that these return rates can be reduced to from 50% to 20%, depending on the oversight given.

Summary by Paschal Baute, March 15, 2006. These facts are taken from the Executive Summary, pp. 1-5 of Volume One. “Kentucky Jails: A Financial Overview” Auditors office. 105 Sea Hero Rd. Suite 2, Frankfort, Ky 40601. tel 502.573.0050

Rev. Dr. Paschal Baute, temporary chair, pastoral psychologist
Kentuckians Expecting Effective Justice (Corrections and Prisons) KEEJ
tel. 859-293-5302 Email pbbaute@qx.net. Www.paschalbaute.com