REGIONAL JAIL FEE WILL NOT INCREASE - Calhoun Paid Off Debt Last Year

(01/06/2003)

West Virginia prison officials say they plan to keep reimbursement rates the same for counties who are required by law to house prisoners in their state facilities. The state Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority told lawmakers yesterday it will not ask counties next year to raise the 45 dollar per-diem cost, after there was discussion about the increase. Steven Canterbury is the authority's executive director. He says cost increases will be offset by savings from more arraignments being held by closed-circuit cameras. Calhoun County, for the first time, caught up with the regional jail bill this past year. The bill has often exceeded $100,000. Despite severe financial problems, the Calhoun Commission managed to balance the budget, come through with an audit in the black and pay-off the jail bill. The county has always managed to make payments of the bill, while others have tended to ignore the debt. Kanawha County has often been in arrears. The problem of how to keep up with the cost, remains.

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001