Ohio

Should Local Jails Charge for Room and Board, More for Candy?

By Cleveland Law Library

It seems that the nationwide trend among jails and sheriffs is to begin charging inmates for room and board and dramtically increasing prices for items like candy that inmates can buy from commissaries. As an article in the Christian Science Monitor reports, a jail in Missouri charges $45 a night for a stay in its brand new jail, and an Oregon jail just passed a $60 per night rate. While jailers do not expect to collect all of these fees, inmates are at least going to have to pay more for non-essentials like chocolate, which a Florida jail just priced 244% higher. Other states are following suits, and the article reports that the Richland County Sheriff is considering imposing a $30 booking fee, plus medical and other charges to make up a $500,000 deficit. The article notes that the inmates and their families are complaining and summarizes arguments by detractors who challenge the legality of the charges or think they will be uncollectible.

Full post as published by Cleveland Law Library Weblog on May 20, 2009 (boomark / email).