Reducing Hardin County Detention Center Costs
State Statutes require County Governments to provide incarceration for prisoners arrested in their counties until the Justice System completes final sentencing 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 2010/2011 we anticipate the $7.8 million jail budget will be balanced with approximately $3 million of county tax dollars.
To help reduce the financial burden on Hardin County taxpayers, we have undertaken several initiatives. The following are two good examples of these cost cutting programs:
Jail Medical Claims
County government previously employed medical staff and managed our own medical care for the inmates incarcerated at the County Detention Facility. In 2007 county government contracted with Southern Health partners to provide "in-house" medical services at the Detention Center. Over the past three fiscal years this arrangement has saved approximately $300,000 annually in direct inmate related medical costs. In addition to "in-house" treatment, Hardin Memorial Hospital provides hospital care for inmates as required at no cost to county government (the expense is absorbed by HMH). As a result of Southern Health Partners "in-house" treatment, Hardin Memorial Hospital's write-offs for inmate care have decreased to less than $12,000 annually over the last three years compared to as much as $640,000 in hospital care in years when the county provided its own medical services – a 98% reduction.
Jail Food Service
In 2008 county government contracted with Kellwell Food Management to provide meals for the inmates housed at the county's detention facility. These services were previously provided by county employees. Through increase efficiencies and greater buying power for food commodities, the contract food services has reduced our annual expenditure for inmate meals by approximately 23% producing nearly $200,000 in annual savings.