{"id":30200,"date":"2018-06-07T16:07:29","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T21:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=30200"},"modified":"2018-06-07T16:07:29","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T21:07:29","slug":"after-veto-county-sheriffs-insist-the-state-still-owes-jails-money-for-housing-inmates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/06\/07\/after-veto-county-sheriffs-insist-the-state-still-owes-jails-money-for-housing-inmates\/","title":{"rendered":"After veto, county sheriffs insist the state still owes jails money for housing inmates."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_30201\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30201\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/06\/Chris-West-1920x1280.jpg\" alt=\"Canadian County Sheriff Chris West sits in his office.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/06\/Chris-West-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/06\/Chris-West-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/06\/Chris-West-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/06\/Chris-West-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/06\/Chris-West-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/06\/Chris-West-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/06\/Chris-West-1620x1080.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Canadian County Sheriff Chris West says the Department of Corrections owes his county nearly $89,000.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Canadian County Sheriff Chris West sits in a dimly lit office decorated with hunting trophies and law enforcement memorabilia.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>West is visibly frustrated when he says the Oklahoma Department of Corrections owes his county $88,691 for at least two years of jail costs \u2014 and he isn\u2019t the only one complaining. The Oklahoma Sheriff\u2019s Association says the state is shortchanging most counties for housing state prison inmates.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/455251560&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more--><\/p><p>Gov. Mary Fallin on May 15 vetoed legislation that local sheriffs hoped would mean more money they say is owed to county jails. The veto is the latest volley in a long dispute over the local cost of the state\u2019s corrections system that dates back to at least 2001 \u2014 the first year the law on state reimbursements to local jails was changed.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>The fight has since spilled over into <a href=\"https:\/\/nondoc.com\/2018\/05\/17\/fallin-veto-protects-unconstitutional-doc-practice\/\">news columns<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.readfrontier.org\/stories\/private-law-firm-to-represent-prison-system-in-lawsuit-by-tulsa-county-after-ags-office-withdraws\/\">lawsuits<\/a> filed by counties to recover the costs of housing inmates on behalf of the state<\/p>\n<h3>Document dispute<\/h3><p>Sheriff West says the disagreement is about money. He believes the state is exploiting the system for financial gain.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>State prison officials were pleased Fallin vetoed <a href=\"http:\/\/webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us\/cf_pdf\/2017-18%2520ENR\/SB\/SB1442%2520ENR.PDF\">Senate Bill 1442<\/a>, which they said would cost the state too much money. West and other sheriffs, however, are disappointed because they see no fix for an ongoing problem that starts the moment people are found guilty of a crime and sentenced to prison.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>After a judge hands out a prison sentence, people convicted of crimes can\u2019t be immediately transported to a state prison. West says, on average, people wait about two months to be transferred from his jail to state custody, and the state pays the jail $27 per day to hold them.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>West says the actual cost to his county is $31 per day.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u201cThere are counties where I believe it\u2019s $40 to $50,\u201d he said. \u201cDOC will only reimburse at $27.<\/p><p>Last year, lawmakers gave individual counties power to ask the state corrections agency for a higher reimbursement rate. If the agency refuses, a county can appeal the decision to the State Auditor and Inspector\u2019s Office which will decide what daily rate a county is reimbursed in<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>the next fiscal year.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>Before someone can be transferred to state prison, a county has to send documents with information on the person, their conviction and their sentence to the state corrections agency. Counties have five days to turn the documents over \u2014 every day after that is a day the state doesn\u2019t have to reimburse local jails.<\/p><p>In most counties, it is the sheriff\u2019s responsibility to turn in those sentencing documents, but West says sheriffs often can\u2019t control paperwork delays that come from judges and court officials.<\/p>\n<h3>Unconstitutional opinion<\/h3><p>Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter weighed in with an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oag.ok.gov\/Websites\/oag\/images\/Documents\/Opinions\/AG\/2017\/AG%2520Opin.%25202017-3.pdf\">official opinion<\/a> in 2017 that suggested such time limits were likely unconstitutional because it could force counties to pay for state prisoners\u2019 room and board with county tax revenue.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>SB 1442 would have killed the five-day rule. In a statement to StateImpact, the governor\u2019s office didn\u2019t question the AG opinion but said killing the rule would take away counties\u2019 incentive to report inmates to the state quickly.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>Sheriff West says the rule is directly responsible for more than a quarter of the nearly $89,000 his county is owed. The rest, he says, is from the lower reimbursement rate and non-payments due to problems with sentencing documents.<\/p><p>State Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh urged the governor to veto the bill.\u00a0He disagrees with the AG opinion that the five-day rule forces counties to pay for inmates who are the state\u2019s responsibility with local tax dollars. He argues that the law doesn\u2019t make the state responsible for inmates until his agency receives sentencing documents from counties.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>Allbaugh is afraid that without the five-day rule, some county jails would wait longer to turn over sentencing documents so they could get bigger reimbursement checks. He says, \u201cnot knowing how many inmates\u201d were coming into state prisons landed the agency in financial trouble years ago.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30203\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30203\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/06\/Joe-Allbaugh-5.30-1920x1378.jpg\" alt=\"Joe Allbaugh standing in his office at the Department of Corrections.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1378\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joe Allbaugh is director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>In a recent letter addressed to Fallin, Allbaugh wrote that when lawmakers started giving counties a time limit to turn in sentencing documents the average wait time for people to leave county jails for state prisons dropped from 104 days to 31 \u2014 a move that saved the state agency a little under $2,000 per inmate.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>Allbaugh says the five-day deadline is a reasonable, \u201ccommon courtesy\u201d that was negotiated with the sheriff\u2019s association before it was adopted.<\/p><p>West says a second part of the vetoed Senate bill should\u2019ve put Allbaugh\u2019s mind at ease: The measure would\u2019ve made county court clerks responsible for sending those sentencing documents to the state corrections agency, taking sheriffs out of the process.<\/p><p>For now, the bill is dead. But West and other sheriffs say the problem isn\u2019t resolved. West says lawmakers could revive the issue the next time the Legislature convenes \u2014 or counties might sue the state.<\/p><p>\u201cAs a citizen of the state of Oklahoma, if I can\u2019t expect my government to follow the Constitution, what can I expect them to do?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>County sheriffs heavily supported a bill they hoped would mean larger reimbursements to county jails that hold state prison inmates and a more transparent reimbursement system. The governor vetoed the bill leaving the debate between county sheriffs and the state unresolved. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":30202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[879,877,223,878,880],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30200"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30200"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30210,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30200\/revisions\/30210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}