MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Soaring jail reimbursement costs required by each of the 55 counties are proving to be more than some of the most financially stable municipalities can meet.
Two of the state’s largest counties, Monongalia and Kanawha counties, have plans to address it.
Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom said they began to exceed their budget before the end of the third quarter. Now, the commission, judicial staff, and the sheriff meet monthly instead of quarterly to enable them to better monitor costs.
“At the end of February, we realized we were up to $2.1 million already,” Bloom said recently on MetroNews “Talkline.” “So, we will end up having to pay a total of $3.1 million.”
Kanawha County started a task force earlier this year to investigate ways of minimizing its jail bill. The Jail Bill Reduction and Opioid Diversion Task Force aims to reduce unnecessary incarceration, improve public safety outcomes and expand access to evidence-based supervision, treatment and recovery services for justice-involved individuals.
Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango said recently on “580 Live” that there will be a check-in six months from now to discuss whether the implemented plans are working.
Salango sounded the alarm on the issue in March. At that time, he reported the county was paying between $4.5 million and $5 million on its jail bill, which amounted to $67.27 per person per day.
Salango said the cost per month on the bill continues to rise.
“The county is paying about $400,000 a month on the jail bill,” Salango said. “The jail bill is when somebody is arrested, they’re held in a jail pending the outcome of the case, either a trial or a plea, or whatever would happen. I don’t practice criminal law.”
When a suspect is arrested in one of the municipalities in Monongalia County, that entity pays the first day and the transportation costs if taken to a regional jail. The county is then required to pay the jail costs until the case works its way through the court system. Bloom noted that jail transport costs have not been reviewed or increased for more than 10 years.
“The counties pay this bill even though we’re in the city of Morgantown,” Bloom said. “The city of Morgantown has the largest number of felons that come through our system — the cities only pay one day of the total cost.”
Salango said Kanawha County is on the hook for those costs, just like Monongalia.
“We have to eat that expense,” Salango said. “So, when they’re in jail, we eat it until they are transferred to the state if there’s a plea, a conviction, whatever. Then it’s on the state’s dime.”
Salango noted a distinction between violent and non-violent offenders. The county is footing the bill on both, and Salango said the task force is looking for ways of mitigating those costs for the non-violent, non-repeat offenders.
“Who do we have in jail?” Salango asked. “Is this just some crime like a $50 bail that they just can’t post, and they’re in for some non-violent crime, they don’t have a history of crime? We’re looking at that.”
Salango didn’t specify what the alternatives to holding offenders in jail might be.
Bloom said from 2018 through 2025, the average cost was about $159,000 per month, and then in 2023, lawmakers passed a bill changing the calculation for reimbursement to a proportional format. The county is allotted a total of 55,027 inmate days each year, and the base daily rate is $57.46.
In Monongalia County, the county pays 80 percent of the base rate for the first 80 percent of the total inmate day allotment. From 80 to 100 percent, counties pay the full rate, and above 100 percent of the allotment, counties pay 120 percent of the daily rate.
“We are averaging right now $270,828, so just the average now is a 57 percent increase,” Bloom said.
In the current year, Bloom said they have had three felony murder cases among the 645 total felonies and 1,000 more misdemeanors. The felony murder cases especially burn through the county allotment, increasing costs.
“That is 900 days we have to pay — $67,986 just for those three felonies,” Bloom said. “And we have 645 new felonies this year.”
Now the monthly cost review meetings go into much more detail in an effort to identify areas to cut costs. Monthly, the sheriff, prosecutor, judicial staff, and commissioners scour through the numbers looking for ways to cut costs until state lawmakers offer a remedy.
“We’re looking at transport fees, reviewing timely hearings and bail motions, reviewing misdemeanor hearings to monitor the bail, and holding off on major expenses,” Bloom said. “We are reviewing every one of these categories.”
Bloom said he has reached out to state officials but has heard nothing of substance yet.
Salango emphasized the task force’s investigation is focusing on non-violent offenders.
“This will not affect violent offenders,” Salango explained. “We’re happily paying for violent offenders to sit in jail because we’re protecting the public. But, for non-violent offenders, and those who aren’t repeat offenders, then we need to figure out something that will help save the taxpayers’ money, because it is eating us up.”
MetroNews reporter Jack Carlson contributed to this story.