MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Monongalia County is bracing for financial red ink for jail costs this fiscal year of about $1 million and now the county could consider increasing the rates it charges municipalities for jail transportation.
Monongalia County Sheriff Todd Forbes said the rates being used today were negotiated about 10 years ago and it’s time for an adjustment.
Forbes said he also wants to change how bills are processed for jail transports and the first night of incarceration for inmates.
“The bills have basically doubled since about 2009 and our rates haven’t changed at all,” Forbes said. “So, the county is assuming much more of the cost than what was agreed upon in the 2008-2009 timeframe.”
The Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department provides transportation for suspects in crimes from all municipalities in the county. The sheriff’s department places that suspect in a holding cell for up to 12 hours or until the suspect can be transported or arraigned.
“I’ve asked the (county) commission to evaluate whether or not we are charging an appropriate amount for these transports because the bills have basically doubled since 2009 and our rates haven’t changed at all,” Forbes said.
The drive to the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County is about 140 miles round trip. Forbes said they’ll make an average of two trips each day and by the end of each week the sheriff’s department has committed to 700 miles on the road and hours of labor costs to ensure a safe and secure trip.
“We make two trips a day, and that would have anywhere from two to six people on these trips,” Forbes said. “It varies every day, but we’re talking about hundreds of people that we transport.”
Part of the proposal is to consolidate the billing process inside the sheriff’s department. Under the current system the commission bills for the transportation, and the sheriff’s department bills for the first night of incarceration. Consolidation will save administrative costs and increase accuracy because all of the data originates at the sheriff’s department.
“We have a better mechanism in place to verify if the information is accurate than the county commission does because they only get a little bit of the data,” Forbes said. “We get all of the data so we can make sure it’s more accurate.”
Forbes said it would be highly unlikely that one or more of the municipalities in the county would elect to start conducting their own transports. But, moving forward, Forbes wants to be sure the county can at least recoup the costs of the service provided to the other municipalities.
“We’re basically a holding facility for up to 12 hours until that person can be arraigned or transported,” Forbes said. “So otherwise that municipality is going to be stuck with that individual for that amount of time.”