Story County has become the latest county in Iowa to charge jail inmates room and board. On July 1st, the county began charging inmates 48-dollars a day. Deputy Sheriff Gary Foster has the report on the first month of operation.Based on the financial status of most inmates, Story County officials expected to get about 10 percent of the bills paid. But about 20 percent of the room-and-board charges from July already have been paid.If the inmate doesn’t pay up when he or she “checks out” of jail, Foster says the convict is still liable. The County can put a lien on any property or land owned by the convict to gain payment.Foster says it makes sense to require inmates to dip into their own pockets to pay for their bunk and three square meals a day.The Story County Jail had an average of 51 prisoners a day in July.
Iowa's Radio News Network
