Fri May 21,11:08 PM ET
By JULIA SILVERMAN, Associated Press Writer
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - First, Sheriff Tim Evinger eliminated ketchup, salt, coffee and pepper at the jail, a move he says saved an instant $30,000 a year in runaway beverage and condiment costs. Now, Evinger has decided to start charging inmates $60 a day to help cover the costs of their stay behind bars.
"My constituents expect me to use whatever means I have to keep the jail open to its full extent," the sheriff said.
It is an idea that first surfaced about 15 years ago in Alabama, and has since spread rapidly across the country, to about one-third of the county jails in the United States.
In some places, inmates are charged for their stay while they are still behind bars; other places bill them after they get out.
But increasingly, prison researchers dismiss such "pay-to-stay" plans as political grandstanding, citing the difficulty and expense of actually collecting anything from inmates and the ethics of such practices.
"If you go after people who owe you money on room and board or whatever, you will end up paying more money for the bill collector than you can ever collect for these people," said Ken Kerle, editor of American Jails magazine. "Holding inmates is a government responsibility, whether government likes it or not."
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=7&u=/ap/paying_for_prison