By Marlon A. Walker
Detroit Free Press
WAYNE COUNTY, Ohio — The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office is being refunded $237,000 after officials found the jail’s food service vendor overcharged for inmate meals.
Canteen Correctional Services will credit the overcharge to the jail’s next billing statement, officials said in a press release Friday.
The agreement between the jail and the food services company, a part of the Detroit company Continental Services, called for a nearly 3 cents reduction per meal beginning in the contract’s second year. But the change was never implemented during the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Officials said the overcharge was found during an internal billing review by jail officials this week.
“While the oversight amounts to a few cents per meal, as you can see it adds up when you’re serving thousands of meals a day,” said Chief of Jails Jeriel Heard said in the release.
Meals are given three times a dayto an average 2,200 inmates, on-duty staff, persons being processed into the jail registry and inmates awaiting transfer to other jurisdictions.
The news comes as the department is negotiating with county commissioners over a projected $28 million overage for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
This week, the Wayne County Commission Ways and Means committee suggested eliminating several key departments, including dispatch, internal affairs and the Internet Crimes Unit, for savings of more than $20 million annually. Commissioner Laura Cox, who chairs the committee, said the cuts were made from non-mandated agencies with a focus on getting more sheriff’s deputies into the jail to lower overtime.