Polk County inmates will pay $2 a day to stay

Polk County's inmates are about to be charged a $2 daily fee for being incarcerated.

The fee will help subsidize costs for services such as food, clothing and laundry, deputies say. Sheriff Grady Judd said every dollar collected from inmates is a dollar taxpayers won't have to pay.

The fee will begin Wednesday - tax day.

"In honor of the hard-working men and women who behave and pay taxes, the God-fearing, tax-paying people, we celebrate tax day by making sure the inmates pay into the coffers," Judd said today.

Judd said he hopes to collect $300,000 to $500,000 a year.

Inmates were alerted March 18 that such a fee would be coming, and inmates admitted since then have been told about it during the booking process.

If a person is found not guilty or is acquitted, he will not get his money back, Judd said.

Last fiscal year, the average daily cost for a Polk inmate was $52.27.

Polk's daily jail population is about 2,500.

If all inmates were able to pay the $2 fee, about $1,825,000 would be collected. But Judd expects that less than half of the inmates will be able to afford to pay.

The jail will keep tabs on who pays and who doesn't. If someone owes money and is arrested again, money in his possession will be applied toward debt.

"We're like MasterCard fees, except we don't charge interest," Judd said. "If it were legal, we'd charge interest."

Hillsborough County's inmates are charged a one-time $20 fee. The system is considering raising that fee and possibly also charging a daily rate similar to what Polk is doing, Maj. Curtis Flowers said.

"We haven't adjusted fees and fee rates in a while now," Flowers said. "The condition of the economy is not really favorable right now, so everybody is looking for more ways to generate revenue."

Polk inmates already must pay fees to defray costs. Those include:

• A $30 fee when they are booked into jail.

• Medical co-payment fees of $10 to see a nurse, $15 to see a doctor, $10 for a pharmacy co-pay and $75 for off-site transportation for medical visits.

• $1.50 for a hygiene kit and $7.50 for five pairs of underwear, which are charged to inmates assigned to housing.

Inmates who can't afford food, medicine and hygiene products still receive them.

Deputies say inmates paid a total of $418,438 for medical co-payments, hygiene items and per diem charges in 2008.

Judd cracked down on inmates in a different way last year.

In July, deputies announced drastic menu changes.

Inmates no longer have the option of drinking chocolate milk, fresh milk, coffee, tea or juice. They get water or nonfat dry milk.

They also don't get peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They have the option of eating meat sandwiches instead.

Judd said a dietitian was consulted about menu changes and approved them.

The Florida Sheriff's Association's Florida Model Jail Standards mandate that jails must serve nutritious, wholesome meals three times a day, sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said. The American Dietetic Association recommends a daily allowance of 2,300 to 2,800 calories a day. The jail still offers three daily meals, and the food offered is about 2,650 calories a day, Judd said last year.

The cost savings generated from those food cuts? About $195,000 a year, Judd said.