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Public commenters tell Monongalia County commissioners state camping ban would shift jail costs to county
Summary
At the March 12 Monongalia County Commission meeting, public commenters warned that a proposed West Virginia state camping ban would likely increase county jail costs and strain local shelters, citing state statute 15A-3-16 and recent shelter capacity limits.
Monongalia County commissioners heard public comments March 12 warning that a proposed West Virginia camping ban would shift incarceration costs to the county and intensify local shelter shortages.
Lindsay Jacobs, a Morgantown resident who said she works with Mountain State Justice, told commissioners the county would likely “end up picking up the tab” for incarcerations that follow enforcement of a state camping ban. Jacobs said a policy analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy had pointed her to state statute 15A-3-16, which she described as governing funds for operations of jails under the county commissioner’s jurisdiction.
Why it matters: If people cited under a state camping ban are jailed, counties often pay incarceration costs under the cited statute. Public commenters told the commission Monongalia County lacks shelter capacity to absorb people who currently sleep outdoors, and that local shelters are already full, increasing the probability of jail stays that would fall to county budgets.
Jacobs said she could not provide an exact county cost estimate at the meeting but urged commissioners to consider the fiscal effects and offered to connect the commission with the policy analyst who provided the statutory citation. She noted that whether the City of Morgantown adopts a separate city camping ban could change which government pays the first days of incarceration, but said the county would likely bear costs beyond any initial city-covered period.
A second public commenter (identified in the record as a resident and organizer with MOCA) reiterated that local shelter operators had told volunteers the warming shelter was closing soon and that the county would lose about 30 warming-shelter beds the following Saturday. That speaker said Catholic Charities and Grace Shelter staff had warned volunteers the warming shelter was full and could not accept more people, and that volunteers were being asked to prepare people for rough sleeping.
Commissioners did not take formal action on the camping ban at the March 12 meeting; the comments were part of the public comment period. Commissioners earlier in the conversation had, according to commenters, suggested there were available beds; public commenters disputed that claim and emphasized the gap between claimed capacity and front-line shelter operators’ reports.
The public commenters named the statute they relied on as “section 15A-3-16” and referenced local service providers including Grace Shelter and Catholic Charities. The commenters asked the commission to consider noncarceral responses and to avoid increased county spending on incarcerations for people experiencing homelessness.
