Published: July 09, 2007 11:57 pm      

Boyd jail will pay for itself with program

County holding federal inmates awaiting trial

CATLETTSBURG — Boyd County’s newly expanded detention center will help pay for itself under a new deal between the county and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Jailer Joe Burchett announced this week that the county has begun holding federal inmates awaiting trial for the U.S. Marshal Service. The county, will be paid $41 a day per inmate in addition to mileage costs for transporting the prisoners and incentive pay for the jail’s deputies.

As of Friday there were 17 federal inmates being held but Burchett said he hopes to raise that number to as high as 30 over the year. However, if just 15 prisoners are housed for the entire year they will generate $250,000 in revenues for the county, Burchett said.

That revenue will offset the county’s $3 million operating budget, Burchett said, pointing out that on the first day the inmates were housed at the facility they created $1,337 in revenues. During the first week, the prisoners earned the jail roughly $4,500 for the county, he added.

Boyd County Judge-Executive William “Bud” Stevens, said he supported the deal. “Anything we can do to offset our costs I’m all for it,” he said. “That will help offset our deficit we have over there.”

Boyd County isn’t the only local detention center housing federal inmates for the lucrative per diem fees paid by the U.S. Marshals.

The Carter County Detention Center has had a similar agreement with the U.S. Marshal Service since the opening of its new facility in 2002, Jailer Randy Binion said.

According to him, the jail takes in approximately $1.1 million annually from holding federal inmates, roughly half its $2.2 million operating budget.

Both facilities also house a number of inmates for the state of Kentucky, which also helps to alleviate the jails drain on county finances. The Kentucky Department of Corrections pays county jails a smaller per diem fee of $31 per prisoner to house its inmates.

Unlike the federal inmates, however, some state inmates can serve out their sentences at the county facilities. Federal prisoners are only held at the county jails while being transported or prior to and during their trials, according to Burchett and Binion.

According to both jailers, the size of their facilities allow them to hold state and federal inmates in addition to county inmates.

The addition to the Boyd County Detention Center, which was completed last fall, added more than 30 beds to the facility, giving it one of the highest capacities in the area, Burchett said.

The extra space and its high-security design along with Boyd County’s centralized location between federal courthouses in Ashland and Huntington made the jail attractive to the U.S. Marshal’s, said Capt. Dave Adkins.

Adkins has worked with the Marshal Service over the last few months to bring the deal to the county. To get the federal prisoners, the county had to purchase a new 16-passenger van with a cage to transport prisoners. Six deputies also received special training to transport the prisoners.

Burchett said the Marshal’s require deputies to be armed when transporting federal prisoners, adding it is the only time Boyd County deputies carry firearms.

The federal prisoners will be transported as far as the federal courthouse in Roanoke, Va., to stand trail, Adkins said. Others will be taken to nearby federal prisons or to Lexington to catch federal transport flights.

Requests seeking comment from the U.S. Marshal’s Service eastern district of Kentucky office in Lexington were not returned.