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Sheriff tells commissioners inmate reimbursements don’t cover jail costs, warns of overcrowding liabilities
Summary
The sheriff told the Washington County Board of Commissioners that state and federal inmate reimbursements do not fully cover detention costs, outlined recent increases in insurance and medical costs, and said jail overcrowding shifts planning and legal risk to the commission.
The sheriff told the Washington County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday that reimbursements for housing state inmates do not cover the daily cost of detention and warned that overcrowding can trigger legal and capital liabilities for the county.
The sheriff outlined the department’s FY‑26 budget request and said the operating increase submitted to the county reflects a 3% pay raise; with grant funding included, the increase would amount to about 2%. He said the department faces rising insurance and workers' compensation costs and higher medical and utility bills.
The sheriff said, “If we made money off of inmates, they wouldn't let us have them,” and described inmate payments as reimbursements rather than net revenue. He told commissioners that state policy has left counties keeping inmates the state will not immediately accept, and that this has strained classification and space. “Once you start being overcrowded, the lawsuits start coming,” he said, tying overcrowding to prior litigation and to the county’s role in providing facility capacity.
Why it matters: the sheriff framed the fiscal issue as both an operating pressure for the sheriff’s office and a legal/exposure issue for the county if detention capacity is exceeded. Commissioners were given figures and background to consider in the broader FY‑26 budgeting process.
Key details presented to commissioners included: the department has 292 employees countywide (detention, patrol, court security), liability insurance increased by about $105,000 since the budget submission, workers’ compensation rose by about $12,000, and a prior comp‑time payoff amounted to roughly $500,000. The sheriff said federal inmates “paid for themselves” historically, but state inmate reimbursements are “less than half” the actual per‑day cost of custody.
Discussion vs. decision: commissioners asked clarifying questions but did not take a formal vote on the sheriff’s budget at the workshop. The sheriff asked commissioners to consider that building additional jail capacity or treating inmate stays as revenue could shift financial and legal obligations to the commission.
Ending: Commissioners will continue budget deliberations in subsequent sessions. The sheriff’s presentation was one of several departmental budget requests the commission reviewed during the workshop; no departmental appropriation was adopted at this meeting.
