By Kevin Cummings
Chattanooga Times Free Press
CATOOSA COUNTY, Ga. — Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers says the state is taking its time to pick up prisoners, costing the county more than $20 a day for each prisoner.
It’s a claim the Georgia Department of Corrections denies.
Once the courts sentence a criminal to prison, the Department of Corrections’ normal routine is to pick up a prisoner within 30 days after the department receives the sentence order, Sheriff Summers said.
But the state has been taking about 90 days to pick up prisoners from Catoosa in the last six months, he said.
"(Slow state pickup) has a lot to do with financial issues in the state budget,” Sheriff Summers said. “It’s a lot cheaper for them to keep the prisoners in county jails.”
The state pays the Catoosa Detention Center $12 to $18 per day for each state prisoner housed at the county facility, but the county pays up to another $22 per day to care for each prisoner.
Since it costs about $48 a day to house a prisoner in state prisons, the state is saving money by letting prisoners stay in county jails, Sheriff Summers said.
Georgia legislators are dealing with a $2 billion deficit in the state budget, but Sharmelle Brooks, spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, said the state prison system doesn’t delay prisoner pickup to save money.
“Absolutely not,” Mrs. Brooks said. “We are very cognizant of this issue and are doing all possible to pick up inmates sooner, and putting systems in place to provide greater relief (for counties).”
Mrs. Brooks said prison closings and staff realignments are the main cause for delays in transporting people to state prisons.
Unlike Sheriff Summers, Dade County Sheriff Patrick Cannon said he’s been pleased with the state’s haste in moving prisoners. Most are transported about 15 days after the Department of Corrections receives the sentence orders, he said.
Copyright 2009 Chattanooga Publishing Company