Sheriffs Angered by Bredesen Proposal to Cut Prisoner Payments
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February 26, 2004
NASHVILLE (AP) -- Gov. Bredesen's proposal to halve the daily payments to counties for keeping state inmates at overcrowded jails has sheriffs concerned.
The state now pays $32 per day for each state inmate housed in a local jail that is above its certified capacity.
Bredesen hopes to save about $1.5 million by reducing the reimbursements to $16 per day.
If the Legislature adopts the plan, Davidson County could lose about a half-million dollars a year and Hamilton County would be out almost $375,000.
The state Correction Department estimates 28 other counties also could see lower rates because their facilities are sometimes overcrowded.
Hamilton Sheriff John Cupp says Bredesen's proposal would be "disastrous."
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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