Leaders of a jail in Marion say they’ve stopped collection daily fees for inmates. Civil liberties have long called for an end to what are known as pay to stay fees, which can add up to tens of thousands of dollars by the time an inmate is released. Multi-County Correctional Center director Dale Osborn says they stopped pay-to-stay because it was hard to collect the money.
“I would have preferred to see pay for stay STAY, but in trying to operate a facility, I have to take a look at what is the cost and what is the benefit. Really I think what we determined is that the cost of administering the program was exceeding what the benefits were.”
Osborn says his jail tried to collect more than $2 million a year and typically brought in about $40,000.