Inflation is truly everywhere you turn these days – and price hikes are even showing up in the amount that the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department is charging the US Marshals Service to hold inmates in the county jail in downtown Greensboro.
For years, the county has charged the Marshals $73 a day to hold their inmates – but now that price is going up to $95 a day. That’s a hefty 30 percent increase.
Under the terms of the new agreement scheduled to be signed soon, Guilford County will be contractually obligated to house up to 40 male general population inmates and five female general population inmates. General population inmates are ones who are thought to pose no exceptional risk to others and therefore can be held in the same manner as most other inmates.
The Guilford County Detention Center in downtown Greensboro – known as “Jail Central” – opened in the summer of 2012, and, in 2014, the Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jails, entered into a contract with the US Marshals Service to house federal inmates at the roomy jail that has tons of extra space.
Though the agreement called for the Sheriff’s Department to hold “up to 40 inmates,” the actual number of federal inmates held can reach 60 from time to time.
The US Marshal’s inmates held in the downtown Greensboro jail usually include those awaiting trial in nearby federal courts – like the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, which is a stone’s throw away from the jail.
In other cases, the federal inmates are awaiting a post-trial hearing.
For the current fiscal year – which began on July 1, 2022 – the county projected $1,314,000 in revenue from holding the US Marshals’ inmates. That amount, of course, will rise once the new contract is signed and the extra $22 a day per inmate is factored in.
30%? What a coincidence, property taxes went up the same amount.
Gotta pay for cowboy dannys pay raise
Now for the rest of the story. When the new jail was built I asked for the cost paid for holding federal prisoners be raised. My intention was to help pay the debt service on the new building which would offset the cost to the taxpayer. The amount paid is decided by the federal government. For example Mecklenburg County is paid well above a hundred dollars a day for keeping a prisoner. Federal prisoners have more stringent requirements then our local ones. This was not a problem when I was sheriff because we did not have the extent of being understaffed in our jail like this sheriff has had his entire tenure. While the money for federal prisoners may be attractive, it becomes less so with the toll it takes on our detention officers. Hopefully the sheriff will cap the prisoners at only what he can adequately handle, money be d@#^ed. God Bless our law enforcement, sometimes I think he is the only one looking after them.
What happens to this $1.3 million ? Also what was the outcome of the daughter of the sheriffs girlfriend? Did she serve time or did she pay a fee. Or did she just get a slap on the wrist and told to not do it again . BOY , in our current society with the Democrats in charge all things that happen which seem wierd to the average person is normal to them . Really stupid things like the wok mess in schools, trying to change gender of children in schools. Wokness in Military, and hollering racist to all Republicans- circa Shelia Jackson Lee . Also she is trying to install a law that if you disagree with Democrats you are a terrorist. . This allows the corrup Democrats and the biased FBI to go after them following joes direction. Hopefully the Republicans in the House can stop it .
Anyone have any suggestions as to who belongs in the slammer?