Municipalities concerned over rising cost of housing inmates

In tough financial times, having to pay anything to house a lawbreaker is a necessary expense municipalities would rather not pay.

When it looks like they may be paying the tab for another jurisdiction’s problem, “something has to be done,” Hessmer Mayor Travis Franks said.

The tiny village of Hessmer doesn’t send too many people to jail for violating its ordinances, but it does sometimes send a traffic violator to Avoyelles Detention Center #1. On occasion, its officers arrest people for violating state criminal statutes, such as burglary.

Other municipalities have also expressed concern over the cost of housing inmates and how the towns are being charged.

The issue came up at the April 2 council meeting because councilmen noticed the village has been getting higher inmate housing bills for the past few months. Village Attorney Brandon Scott told aldermen he has not placed a hold on any inmates in the parish jail that would require they be held on a municipal charge for several days.

Aldermen were also told that the village recently had to pay a medical bill for an inmate.

So far, Hessmer has not been presented bills for the after-30-days rate of $24.39/day.

Franks said the parish’s mayors recently met and the topic was discussed. Several mayors expressed concerns over how APSO is billing the towns for housing suspects their police officers arrest.

“Towns have to be careful and watch inmate charges,” Franks said. “We need to be sure we are only paying what we owe.”

TOWNS ARE RESPONSIBLE
While it may not sound “fair” or “right,” Sheriff Doug Anderson said if a suspect is arrested by a municipal police officer on any charge, the town is billed for the time that inmate spends in jail.

Arrested for drunk and disorderly misdemeanor? Charged to the town.
Arrested for DWI? Charged to the town.
Arrested for armed robbery? Charged to the town.
Arrested on an outstanding warrant discovered during a traffic stop? Charged to the town.
Inmate discovered to have an outstanding warrant from Tulsa, Okla., while in jail? Yep. Still charged to the town.

Anderson said that in actuality, a person with an outstanding warrant “is usually gone within one day. The other agency comes to get them or we transport the inmate to them.”

If someone is brought in for a misdemeanor and then found to be wanted for a felony in another parish, “the arresting municipality would be charged $6 for the day he was in jail awaiting transfer,” the sheriff said.

A possible point of confusion is about whether the state should be responsible for housing an inmate charged with a major crime who is arrested by a municipal officer.

“Someone arrested for burglary in Hessmer would be charged under the state statute,” Anderson said, “but it would be a Hessmer arrest and Hessmer would be charged for the time that inmate is in jail -- $6 a day for the first 30 days and $24.39 a day after that.”

If the drunk and disorderly man hauled to jail Saturday night is found to have an outstanding warrant in another town, “the arresting agency would be charged for the time he is in jail on the other charge, until he is transferred, because they brought him in for being drunk and disorderly,” Anderson said.

Franks said he would not even object to paying $24.39/day after 30 days IF the inmate is in jail serving a sentence imposed by the village or awaiting court action in the village magistrate court -- something that wouldn’t happen due to the nature of that court.

However, he does object to the village being billed for housing an inmate just because he was arrested within the municipal limits.

Hessmer is not alone in its concern over inmate housing costs.

‘WATCH THE BILLS’

Cottonport Mayor Scotty Scott, who brought the matter up at the recent mayors’ meeting, said municipalities “need to watch the bills to make sure they are right.”

For example, he said, “they may be in jail three days for our charge, then be charged for parole violation on a previous charge. If that happens, it becomes a state charge and should be taken off the town’s bill.”

Scott said the town’s mayor’s court “doesn’t have authority to sentence anyone to over 30 days, so we should never have an inmate in jail for over 30 days.”

Bunkie Mayor Mike Robertson said the inmate housing costs “seriously affect our budget. I understand the sheriff has to charge what he believes he needs to house the inmates, but for small communities like ours it puts a big dent in the budget.”

Robertson said misdemeanor offenders seldom stay in jail more than a day or two, but those arrested on felonies could sit in jail under a high bond for several months before he goes to court, costing the city $24.39 a day after the first 30 days.

While the cost of housing the city’s inmates in parish jail is a big hit to Marksville’s budget, Mayor John Lemoine argues that municipalities are being treated unfairly in the whole housing system.

“If someone we arrest in the city limits sits in jail for two months awaiting trial, we are charged $6 a day for the first 30 days and over $24 a day after that,” Lemoine said. “If an APSO deputy would have arrested that suspect in Effie, Fifth Ward or Bordelonville, who pays for that inmate?”

The answer, which Lemoine already knew, is “Nobody.”

“All arrests made by APSO are absorbed by APSO,” Anderson said.

Lemoine said the city is researching that “unequal treatment of the municipalities” and may request an Attorney General’s Opinion on the issue.

Mansura Mayor Kenneth Pickett said the inmate housing costs, and the way APSO bills those costs, "makes it hard for a town to budget. I don't like that if someone from New Orleans comes speeding through town and we arrest him and then he has a charge on him from New Orleans that the bill for that inmate comes to Mansura and not to New Orleans. I know that is the procedure, but the amount for housing make it hard to project those costs for budgeting purposes.

Pickett said all the towns can hope for is that suspects on major felonies they arrest are processed, released on bond or go to trial as soon as possible.

Anderson said the current billing system has not discouraged municipal police from making arrests or resulted in local cops “detaining” suspects and calling APSO to make the actual arrest.

“The number of arrests by municipal police officers has not dropped,” Anderson said. “They are doing their jobs.”

Anderson said his deputies are also not shirking their duties to arrest suspects just because there is no payment received for inmates they arrest.