DODDRIDGE STRUGGLING WITH JAIL BILL

(03/09/2005)

Another rural county is feeling pressure because of rising jail costs. Doddridge County's jail bill, like Calhoun's, has doubled in the past six months. In the last seven months, the county's bill for housing inmates in the North Central Regional Jail near West Union has run close to $300,000. The Doddridge County Sheriff's Department has returned to focusing on using home confinement as an alternative sentence for the first time in about four years. Calhoun is using home confinement under the guidelines provided by the court. Doddridge County is not alone in its complaints about regional jail costs. Last week, the Cabell County Commission slashed its budget 20% because it has nearly $530,000 in unpaid jail bills. That amount is projected to hit nearly two million dollars by June 30th. A circuit judge is scheduled to hear a petition tomorrow that was filed by five Cabell County elected officials seeking to block the budget cut. Kanawha County's jail bill has reached $4 million.

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