More contract inmates come to Washington County jail

    The Washington County Jail is receiving a little more revenue lately thanks to the presence of contract inmates from other counties. The jail spent several weeks earlier this summer with no contract inmates at all. Friday?s jail count revealed the jail had 10 contract inmates, and it has had as many as 15 in the last week.

    Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar said a number of the contract inmates are female inmates from Johnson County. He said Johnson County had been sending its inmates to the jail in Marshall County. Dunbar talked to Johnson County employees about sending some of their inmates to Washington County, and they agreed.

    Dunbar said that because Johnson County has its own bus and is willing to transport the inmates, he lowered the rate for contract inmates from that county to $42 per day. The rate for other counties is $50. Until recently, Washington County charged $55 for inmates from other counties. The rates for state inmates and federal inmates are still $50 and $67, respectively.   

    ?We?re charging Johnson County that amount of money because of its volume of inmates and the county?s ability to come down and get inmates to take them to the University,? said Dunbar.

    Dunbar said that the jail held an average of 35-40 contract inmates per day last fall, who accounted for half of the beds in the jail, of which there are 74.

    ?I hope we can get back up to 40 like we were last fall,? said Dunbar. ?I think we?ll see those days again. It goes in a cycle. Some new jails are being built, but I don?t think crime is going away and population is growing.?

For the full story, see the Aug. 13 edition of The Washington Evening Journal