McAlester jail latest to join state trend of making inmates pay for stay

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Pittsburg County jail has become the latest in the state to consider charging inmates for their stay. <br><br>The county would charge inmates $24 for each day they spend in

Friday, March 29th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The Pittsburg County jail has become the latest in the state to consider charging inmates for their stay.

The county would charge inmates $24 for each day they spend in the McAlester lockup under a plan that still must be approved by a district judge.

``Bottom line, rather than have the taxpayers pay for the cost of incarceration, we'll have the inmates pay for it,'' District Attorney Jim Miller said. ``That's where it should be.''

Love County officials said earlier this month they're pondering a fee for inmates at the jail in Marietta.

Low funding keeps that jail from adding more staff. The state Health Department has said it will try to close the jail if it doesn't hire two more jailers.

Assistant District Attorney Gary Brown has said he worries that charging inmates would create financial hardships for them. Brown also said the plan would reduce fines the county now collects and increase court costs.

Mayes County started in February to charge $20 for each day in jail. Prisoners, after they finish their sentences, meet with an administrator and figure out payment plans.

Jail Administrator Janelle Buckskin said no money has been collected yet.

``I can see it actually working,'' she said. ``It's just going to take time.''

In the Panhandle, Texas County Sheriff Arnold Peoples charges inmates $35 a day in Guymon's jail. He's done it for 10 years and thinks other sheriff's departments across the state should do the same.

``It's legal and it's available,'' Peoples said. ``It works well for us and I believe it would work well for other counties, especially those in financial trouble.

The Texas County Sheriff's Department makes about $8,000 a month, or 30 percent of its budget, off the charges.

The state law allowing jails to charge prisoners has been on the books for 11 years, but drew interest late last year when Oklahoma County charged a doctor for the time he spent in jail waiting for trial in his wife's murder. A judge ordered Dr. John Hamilton to pay more than $11,000 after he was convicted of killing Susan Hamilton.

It was the first time a defendant has been ordered to make such a payment in Oklahoma's most populous county. District Attorney Wes Lane says he wants to make such reimbursements a standard policy.