Belknap County officials warn August law change could raise jail medical costs

Michelle Weatherby, superintendent of the Belknap County correctional facility, told the Belknap County Board of Commissioners that a change in state law last August has removed the jail’s ability to require that detainees be medically cleared before intake — a change she said could shift costly emergency-room bills to the county.

"I no longer have the ability to ask a police officer to bring someone to the hospital prior to incarceration," Weatherby said, describing how the previous practice of asking police to obtain a medical clearance kept many bills off county books.

Weatherby told commissioners that under the current rules the county becomes financially responsible for a detainee’s medical bills if the person is held in custody for more than 24 hours. She said that previously, when police brought a person to a hospital first and obtained clearance for incarceration, the individual — not the county — was billed for that care. "Once a person comes into the jail and they're held for more than 24 hours, then the county is…