Lack of contract inmates hurts jail?s revenues

    The Washington County Jail has been less than a third full in recent weeks. The jail has not had a contract inmate for the last two weeks. Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar said the lack of contract inmates has hurt his revenue stream and may affect jail personnel.

    The Board of Supervisors approved 17 full-time jailer positions, but because of the recent drop in revenue, Dunbar has only filled 14 of them. He added that one of the 14 will leave at the end of this month, and that he will talk with his staff about whether to fill that position or leave it vacant.

    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 the jail held an average of 35-40 contracts inmates per day last fall, who accounted for half of the beds in the jail, 74. For the past two weeks, Washington County has not seen any revenue from contract inmates.

    When asked how the jailers were getting along with so few people in the jail, Dunbar responded, ?Things are not as hectic here as they used to be.?

    Dunbar said that he and the jailers have talked about having the jailers perform functions now done by contractors or other county employees. He mentioned that the Building and Grounds crew does the mowing and trimming at Orchard Hill, and that that is something the jailers could perform themselves. He also said that he may have his staff do some of the maintenance of the jail such as mopping the floors and cleaning the rugs.

    ?We haven?t discussed layoffs yet,? said Dunbar. ?We?re trying to reduce the part-timers? hours. We?ve been telling them to go home early or just not come to work.?

    Dunbar said the jail employs six part-time employees but only one of them is regular. He said three of them routinely work 20-30 hours per week because they are being trained. He said that once their six months of training is up, their hours will likely be scaled back.

    Another way in which the county is looking to save money is by using its own employees to transport the jail?s juvenile offenders, mental health committals and contract inmates rather than pay the Southern Iowa Area Crime Commission to do it.

For more, see our May 24 print edition.