    
|
Reducing Detention Center Costs
State Statutes require County Governments to provide incarceration for prisoners arrested in their counties until final sentencing is completed by the Justice System and the Commonwealth then assumes responsibility for them. It is not uncommon for the length of time from arrest to final sentencing to be six to eight months or more.
District and Circuit Courts are not under the control of county governments, they are overseen by the Commonwealth’s Administrative Offices of the Courts. While county government cannot control the length of time it takes to complete legal proceedings, nor the requirements established for the care of inmates (these are set by state government), county governments are required to house, feed, and meet the medical needs of the inmates during their period of incarceration. As a result, Hardin County Government annually subsidizes the Detention Center’s budget. For Fiscal Year 2006/2007 we anticipate the $7+ million county jail budget will be met with approximately $3 million of local funding.
To help reduce the financial burden on Hardin County taxpayers, we have undertaken the following initiatives:
Rocket Docket – In August of 2004, Hardin County Government partnered with the Commonwealth Attorney to initiate the “Rocket Docket” program in Hardin County. This program accelerates the process of disposing of select cases in Hardin County Circuit Court, thereby reducing the amount of lapsed time between arrest and final sentencing for selected participants. Decreasing this time reduces the period Hardin County taxpayers are paying for incarceration of prisoners in the county detention facility. Even with nearly $100,000 per year in expenses, we estimate the “Rocket Docket” program is grossing $500,000 to $600,000 per year in savings from reduced incarceration expenses. This is a net savings to county taxpayers of more than $400,000 annually.
TPA for Jail Medical Claims – Employing of Tim Davis and Associates in January 2005 as our Third Party Administrator (TPA) to manage the medical claims of the Hardin County Detention Facility has reduced the cost of individual claims by as much as 20% and sharply cut the pharmaceutical costs for in-mate prescriptions.
 |
