Cutbacks Affect Inmate Feeding Programs

Over the weekend we read a piece about the cost of jails and how in Iowa inmates might be required to pay for their own toilet paper --

http://browardlawblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/iowa-county-may-charge-inmates-for.html

comes now, Steve Bosquet, who used to be a great TV reporter in South Florida, and he has done a feature on inmates doing their own cooking.

The main point of the article, linked below, is that Florida is wisely, they say, eliminating the privatization of food costs (by contracting out to expensive vendors) and instead having inmates prepare their own foods. This should save the state, they hope, ten million dollars.

http://www.miamiherald.com/516/story/906108.html

If you saw the piece about how much money we are spending on new jails, why not spend money on a stimulus package that generates jobs and income for those companies that provide to jails and its inmates services which could be used post release, from vocational to job training skills. And provide for more counselors and therapists to work with inmates while they are still being supervised, including expanding in custody drug and alcohol counseling programs.
Maybe then we would need less jails down the road. Just thinkin'

Iowa County May Charge Inmates for Toilet Paper

Don't squeeze the Charmin, Mr. Whipple.

Des Moines County will consider an idea to charge jail inmates for bathroom tissue to help wipe away a $1.7 million deficit next year.The decision was driven, in part, by a directive to cut costs or face employee furloughs or layoffs.

The county's budget director, Cheryl McVey, said billing inmates for toilet paper could save more than $2,300."We have to find out if it's an allowable expense," she said Thursday.

McVey said she didn't know whether inmates would be charged by the sheet, square or roll. The savings estimate was provided by the maintenance department at the jail.

Curt Braby, the Louisa County sheriff, said he wasn't aware of any counties that have toilet paper fees on the books.

"They've got budget problems, and they're looking for places to cut. But what do you do for the guy who hasn't got the dollar for the toilet paper?"

Florida has upheld a statute taxing inmates user fees for their daily commodities, and in fact most counties, including Broward do charge. So a toilet paper tax may be unconscionable on one hand but legal on the other. If you have to buy your own hygiene products in commissary, why not TP too? It can happen here. After all, it is Broward County.