Jail sees fewer contract inmates

    Dozens of beds at the Washington County Jail lie unoccupied. It?s because the jail has seen a dramatic decline in the number of inmates over the past month.

    On Monday morning, the jail reported that it was holding 13 inmates charged in Washington County and just one contract inmate from outside the county. Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar said that is the fewest number of contract inmates the jail has had since it opened in the spring of 2008. Dunbar said the average number of contract inmates is typically 40 to 45.

    Contract inmates are a significant source of funds for the jail, said Dunbar. The jail receives $67 per day for each federal contract inmate it holds. Washington County gets $55 per day for holding an inmate charged in another county and $50 for a state inmate. Dunbar said that he received notification earlier in the year that the Washington County jail had the most federal inmates of any county in the southern district of Iowa, which comprises 47 of Iowa?s 99 counties. Dunbar said the loss of contract inmates is being felt in the department?s budget.

    ?It does cut our revenues considerably,? said Dunbar.

    Washington County receives the bulk of its federal contract inmates from the Scott County jail in Davenport. Dunbar said that there are a number of reasons why the number of contracted inmates has fallen, some of which have to do with Davenport.

For more, see our April 26 print edition.