LAWRENCE COUNTY Officials look at inmate fee plan

Similar policies are in place in Mercer, Berks and Somerset counties.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A Lawrence County commissioner wants to institute a pay-as-you-stay plan for county jail inmates.
Commissioner Roger DeCarbo has asked the county prison board to look into the policy recently enacted in Mercer County, where inmates sentenced to a county jail term must pay a $10-per-day fee.
"If there is merit, I would suggest we exact a similar policy," DeCarbo said. He notes that a two-year stay in county jail would amount to $7,000 in fees.
Mercer officials recently adopted the policy, which goes into effect April 1, as a means to help cover some jail costs and instill financial responsibility in inmates.
Challenges fail: Similar policies are in place in Berks and Somerset counties and have already withstood legal challenges.
Jail officials in those counties said the jail fees equal 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.
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 charge a $10-per-day fee, which is the same amount to be charged in Mercer County.
Will investigate: Lawrence County Commissioner Brian Burick, who is the county prison board president, said last week that he hasn't had a chance to look at Mercer County's policy but plans to investigate it.
The third county commissioner, Ed Fosnaught, also a member of the county prison board, said he would like to look at the Mercer County program.
"I think it's a good idea," he said.
The county prison board will meet at noon Wednesday in the commissioners' meeting room of the Lawrence County Government Center.