Dougherty County Jail director Col. John Ostrander of the Dougherty County Sheriff's Office attends the finance meeting.
/ Ashley Knight
ALBANY, GA --
Some interesting numbers coming out of the Dougherty County Finance Committee meeting Monday.
A million dollars in taxpayer money is going to subsidize the state of Georgia.
That money--going to support state prisoners staying in our county jail.
According to jail officials, it takes $43 a day to support one state prisoner.
“What we face at the jail is we have prisoners who are convicted to go off to a state prison, but until there's bed space, they remain at the county jail,” says Jail Director Col. John Ostrander.
The state reimburses the jail, but only at $22 a day, meaning the taxpayers have to absorb that $20 difference.
State prisoners make up about 13% of jail inmates—which is down from 16% the year before. The Department of Corrections has been very instrumental in aiding the Sheriff’s Office in that endeavor.
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