Senate committee hears bill to shift county jail medical costs to state, raises sheriff service fees

Senator Teresa Ibach, the bill's introducer, told the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee that LB 636 would require state reimbursement for medical costs incurred when counties provide medical services to county jail inmates and would raise certain sheriff service fees. “LB 636 is a simple bill that seeks to lower the tax burden our property taxpayers face,” she said.

The bill’s proponents said costs for inmate medical care have grown unpredictably and can force counties to cut services or raise property taxes. Neil Miller, the Buffalo County sheriff, told the committee Buffalo County’s jail medical spending rose from about $195,000 in fiscal 2021–22 to about $450,000 in fiscal 2023–24 and that the county had already spent $441,917 in the first seven months of the current fiscal year. “These kind of increases are not sustainable for county budgets,” Miller said.

Brad Johnson, director of the Lancaster County Department of Corrections, gave larger-scale figures: Lancaster County’s inmate medical costs totaled $4,320,543 in fiscal 2023–24, including roughly $3.8 million contracted to the county’s medical provider. He said Lancaster’s average daily jail population rose from about 539 in 2015 to 692 in fiscal…