MERCER COUNTY Jail fees compared to others

Two counties that have imposed the fee for years report fair returns.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- Can Mercer County realize any financial return by imposing a daily inmate incarceration fee at the county jail?
Authorities at other counties where a similar fee has been imposed say it wasn't proposed as a fund-raising mechanism but is more focused on forcing inmates to face the financial responsibility of their situation.
Nevertheless, two counties that have been at it the longest report returns equal to between 2.5 and 5 percent of their annual jail budget.
Berks County, the first in the state to impose an incarceration fee six years ago, brings in between $500,000 and $750,000 a year with the fee, said Warden George Wagner.
That's at a jail that houses an average of 1,100 prisoners daily with an annual budget of $15 million.
Smaller jail: Somerset County, now in its sixth year with the fee, brought in $40,000 last year and that's with an average daily inmate population of 100 and an annual jail budget of $1.4 million, said Warden Timothy Mapes.
Both Berks and Somerset charge a $10 daily fee to inmates, the same fee the Mercer County Prison Board will put into effect here April 1.
Mercer County has a daily inmate population of 170 and an annual budget of $3.5 million.
It was Mercer County Commissioner Olivia Lazor, serving as chairman of the prison board's cost containment committee, who pushed for the incarceration fee.
It is a way to help cover some jail costs, but more importantly, it can be used to instill financial responsibility in inmates, she said.
Responsibility: The county is aware that there are indigent inmates, but part of life is paying for what you do, and the fee program addresses that issue, Lazor said.
Most of Mercer County's inmates aren't indigent, she said, asserting that the majority of those in jail are there on charges of driving under the influence and petty crimes and should be able to pay.
Wagner said only about 15-20 percent of the Berks County inmates openly accept that financial responsibility by setting up payment plans to pay off their "Inmate Financial Responsibility" debt when they leave jail.
Most of those people are not repeat offenders and don't wind up back in jail, he added.
"We don't aggressively pursue collecting the funds," Wagner said, noting that those who fail to pay aren't turned over to a collection agency.
"It's not a revenue stream and was never meant to be one," he said.
In Somerset: In contrast, Mapes said not very many Somerset County inmates bother to set up payment plans when they are released and most of them have to be turned over to a collection agency to collect their debt.
Mercer County's plan will follow Somerset's lead in that regard. The county will use a collection service to go after those who fail to pay, Lazor said.
Both Berks and Somerset have a tough collection policy on inmates who wind up back in jail.
If they haven't paid off any leftover debt from their previous stay, half of any money they have in their possession when they are locked up again and half of any money they might receive while in jail is immediately seized as payment on that debt.
Mercer County's policy carries the same provision, Lazor said.
If acquitted: Any inmate acquitted of charges or against whom charges are dropped isn't assessed a fee in either Berks or Somerset, and Mercer County won't charge one either.
Wagner said Berks' policy has withstood a legal challenge that went all the way to the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals.