Group will file jail funding suit: Judge-executives say lost fees unfair
By James Mayse
Messenger-Inquirer
OWENSBORO, Ky. — For years, members of the Kentucky County Judge/Executive Association have considered the possibility of suing the state over the issue of county jail funding.
In September, that lawsuit is expected to finally be filed in Franklin Circuit Court.
The association’s members voted unanimously to sue the state Finance Cabinet, Justice Cabinet and General Assembly. County jails that house state inmates receive a daily fee for every day the inmate remains at the jail, but the state doesn’t begin paying until after an inmate has been sentenced -- and an inmate can sit in jail for weeks or months before trial.
Counties pay the cost of housing inmates before and during trial. When inmates are sentenced and given credit for time already served in jail, the counties are not reimbursed for the time they held the inmate.
Vince Lang, executive director of the Judge/Executive Association, said counties have lost millions of dollars housing state inmates who were later given credit for time served.
“It wasn’t our intention to do this. Our intention was to get a legislative remedy to the problem,” Lang said. Over the years, legislators proposed several bills to increase state funding to county jails, but few of the bills received action, Lang said.
“Our issue has been pending for a long time,” he said.
Previous studies -- including one from state Auditor Crit Luallen’s office -- recommended the state eventually take over operation of the county jail system. Lang said the lawsuit will not go that far.
“At present ... all we’re asking for is to be reimbursed from this point forward for those costs when the (court) gives credit for time served,” Lang said. County jails are running a deficit of about $130 million -- with $45 million of that being attributed to inmates who receive credit for time served. As a result, counties have to shift general fund dollars to jails to cover the expenses.
“What could Daviess County be doing with the money they’re losing every year?” Lang said.
County fiscal courts are being asked by the association to approve resolutions in support of the lawsuit. The counties have also agreed to provide $800 each to pay the suit’s legal fees.
At Thursday’s Daviess Fiscal Court meeting, county Judge-Executive Reid Haire said the purpose of the suit is to “get fairness and equity” from the state in jail funding.
“Continuously, over the last several years, the state has neglected to try to deal with it,” Haire said.
Larue County Judge-Executive Tommy Turner said Friday the county judges felt they had waited long enough for legislators to act.
“There had been an ongoing effort to try to address the jail funding issue that has plagued counties for years, and there has been very little progress,” Turner said. “There has been a lot of identification of the issue ... but actually addressing the issue is something that hasn’t come to fruition.”
Lang said the lawsuit is somewhat similar to the one filed against the General Assembly that eventually led to the Kentucky Education Reform Act.
“We all know it was a court case that provoked (legislators’) action,” Lang said. While some financial assistance has been provided by legislators over the years, “it doesn’t measure up” to the need, he said.
“We have pleaded in the best way possible to make our case ... and we’ve been ignored,” he said.
One risk in filing suit is that legislators and state government will stop considering jail funding issues until after the lawsuit is tried, Lang said. Turner said he believes legislators will continue to work with counties to find funding for county jails that house state inmates.
“We’ve chatted with many legislators and they all feel it’s an (issue) that needs an answer,” Turner said. “I don’t think there’s going to be any issue between us and the legislature over how we determine the answer to this question.”
“I would be surprised if they didn’t continue to work on this issue,” Lang said. "... If they really didn’t want us to do this, they had a chance to do something about it.”
Copyright 2008 Messenger-Inquirer