Officials: IDOC plan would be costly for taxpayers

If an Idaho Department of Correction proposal to change the way it pays county jails for housing state inmates is passed by the Idaho Legislature, Nez Perce County stands to lose about $12,000 per month, a county official said.

Earlier this month, Idaho Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt requested the state change the way it pays county jails to house its inmates to a flat per diem rate of $60 per inmate in fiscal year 2021 and $65 per inmate in 2022.

Currently, the IDOC utilizes a tiered system that pays county jails a per diem rate of $55 per inmate for the first seven days and $75 per inmate for each day after the first week IDOC houses its inmates in county jails. The proposed flat rate would save IDOC about $1.5 million, IDOC Public Information Officer Jeff Ray said.

The county stands to lose about $145,000 in the first year if the proposal is accepted by the Legislature, said Nez Perce County Auditor/Recorder Patty O. Weeks.

The average cost per day for an inmate at the Nez Perce County Jail is $101.28, Weeks said. The county calculated that per diem cost in October. Under the current tiered system, county property taxpayers pay $46.28 per state inmate per day housed in the jail for the first week and $26.28 per inmate each day after the first week.

Under the proposed flat rate, county property taxpayers would pay $41.28 per inmate each day they are housed in the county jail.

A recent count in the county jail showed about 31 percent of the population were state inmates that state prisons do not have cells for. There were 42 state inmates out of 134 total inmates at the jail, Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Sgt. Andy McNish said.

“I don’t think the county taxpayers should be the ones who are constantly being hosed because someone doesn’t want to pay for something,” Nez Perce County Sheriff Joe Rodriguez said. “I think (the IDOC proposal) is dead in the water.”

The Idaho Sheriffs’ Association claims the proposed flat rate would cost counties hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Sheriffs urge IDOC to keep the current payment system to counties so that county property tax payers don’t have to subsidize the state in performing their lawful duty,” Idaho Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director Vaughn Killeen said in a news release. “Reducing the amount to $60 would require the counties to make up even a greater difference.”

The association recommends the Legislature “create an interim committee to explore the funding of appropriate correctional facilities,” the news release said. “Sending incarcerated Idahoans out of state is a loser for the inmate, the inmate’s families and sends millions of Idaho taxpayer dollars to other states.”

The IDOC had 9,496 inmates in its custody Wednesday.

The IDOC has an operating capacity of 7,301 inmates at its in-state correctional facilities. On Wednesday, those facilities had 7,339 inmates. IDOC also had 405 inmates at its Correctional Alternative Placement Program in Kuna for probationers, parolees and retained jurisdiction for substance abuse and cognitive issues treatment programs.

Idaho also contracts with the GEO Group that operates a 620-bed correctional facility in Eagle Pass, Texas, that had 651 Idaho inmates Wednesday.

County jails throughout Idaho were housing 926 state inmates Wednesday to make up for the lack of space in state prisons. There are also 129 state inmates in Bonneville County Jail and 46 state inmates in Jefferson County Jail as of Wednesday not included in IDOC’s county jail counts because of special contracts. That brings the total to 1,101 in county jails as of Wednesday.

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.