County Studies Idea of Making Inmates Pay Fee

Most jail inmates realize they have to pay for their crimes. But they soon may be shocked to discover they could have to pay with more than their freedom.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to study the idea of charging inmates a fee for the time they spend in jail.

The action comes as the county faces another possible budget deficit, and as the “three strikes” legislation has filled county jail cells, created backlogs in courts and increased costs throughout the judicial system. Because of the possibility of long prison sentences, a large percentage of suspects are demanding trials rather than agreeing to plea bargains.

Given those problems, an aide to Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who proposed the plan, said the county needs to devise a way to pay for the costs of the county’s jails.

“The supervisor has been thinking about this because prisons in other states are doing this, and it’s worked for them,” said aide Lori Howard. “So he wants to know why it couldn’t work for us.”

In Los Angeles County, however, the plan could cost more than it pulls in, because about 70% of the county’s 18,000 inmates are either awaiting trial or have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing.

State law forbids requiring such inmates to pay, said Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Sandra Davis.

That would leave about 30% of the jail population to pay, many of whom probably lack the resources, Davis said.

“That’s one of the reasons we really need to study this, because it could end up costing more to recover the money than we take in,” she said. “We need to find out the potential for revenue.”

A hearing would be held to determine if an inmate has the ability to pay, officials said.

Fred Ramirez, director of administrative services for the sheriff’s office, said he supports studying the problem, but doubts that much money would be collected from inmates.

“If they had the ability to pay, they could bail themselves out,” he said.

A number of corrections facilities nationwide allow prisoners from other states to be housed for a fee.

Several cities in Los Angeles County operate “weekender” programs, in which misdemeanor offenders pay about $80 a day to serve their sentences in local suburban jails, rather than crowded--and often more dangerous--county lockups.

The money goes into city coffers.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Lt. Dan Peavy of the San Fernando Police Department. “Generally, we have available beds so it works out for everybody.”

In 1995, 168 people, mostly drunk drivers, chose the San Fernando facility rather than county jails.