By Matthew Reilly
PolitickerNJ.com
TRENTON, N.J. — Sen. James Beach has introduced a bill that would require inmates with financial means to pay the state for the cost of their incarceration
The bill (S-2809) would require the state Department of Corrections to establish and collect an annual fee from inmates in state correctional facilities. The money would be used to offset the cost of their imprisonment. The fee established by the bill would be equivalent to the average cost to the department of incarcerating an inmate for one year.
It now costs the State of New Jersey an average of $38,700 a year to house an inmate in the state prison system, Sen. Beach (D-Camden)said. Given the current state of our finances and the burden already borne by our taxpayers, it makes sense that we tap into the assets of our prison population to help defray the cost of their imprisonment.
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