County officials revamp jail booking fee
By Bob Kasarda Tuesday, February 17,
2009
VALPARAISO | Several months after it was
eliminated by the state, county officials
have come up with a plan to reintroduce a
jail booking fee that has funded a
successful drug and alcohol program for
inmates.
The proposal calls for again charging the
$25 fee of everyone booked at the county
jail, but returning the money to anyone
found not guilty or whose charges are
dismissed, County Attorney Gwenn
Rinkenberger said.
Rinkenberger said she came up with the idea
in conjunction with Porter County Prosecutor
Brian Gensel, whose office will handle the
paperwork necessary for the refund.
The state did away with the booking fee last
summer on the grounds it was not fair,
Porter County Commissioner Bob Harper said
when the issue surfaced during a meeting in
December.
The move left the county with a diminishing
amount of money for the intensive outpatient
treatment program provided for inmates by
Porter-Starke Services.
Commissioner John Evans asked at the time if
the fee could simply be returned to those
found not guilty, but former County Attorney
David Hollenbeck said it could not.
Harper, who works as a criminal defense
attorney, estimated about 90 percent of
those arrested are eventually found guilty
of a crime.
Until the revamped fee can be approved, the
commissioners will dedicate $30,000 to
$40,000 of county income tax revenue to keep
the inmate treatment program alive, Harper
said.
The treatment program costs the county
$120,000 a year, Porter County Sheriff David
Lain said.
Rinkenberger said she disagrees with the
state's ability to eliminate the former
version of the fee. She believes the county
was within its rights to collect a fee to
cover the cost of booking anyone at the
jail, despite the outcome of cases. |
