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Davis County budget panel considers moving jail medical costs into inmate-services enterprise fund
Summary
During a working lunch the budget committee discussed isolating jail medical expenses in the inmate services enterprise fund to improve transparency and comparability; members also explored whether the county can bill inmate health insurance or tap a Medicaid pilot to recover costs. No motions or votes were recorded.
Unidentified Speaker 1 proposed moving jail medical expenses and associated revenues entirely into the county's inmate services enterprise fund to isolate costs and make transfers from the general fund explicit rather than masking expenses across departments. The speaker said prior presentations mixed lines in ways that hurt year‑to‑year comparability, noting an earlier back-and-forth where jail medical costs were described first as "about a million" and later as "2,000,000."
The committee discussed the accounting and policy implications of such a shift. Speaker 1 said the county could accept a negative balance in the enterprise fund and then make a clear transfer from the general fund, which would expose the true cost of jail medical care. Commissioners emphasized the goal of simplifying and clarifying which operations drive costs and what new budget requests are being made.
Speakers also raised whether the county can bill an individual inmate's health insurance for care delivered while incarcerated. Unidentified Speaker 4 asked, "Why can't we turn around and create the ability to, like, recoup any type of medical charges?" Staff and other members cautioned that state law and program rules limit coverage while people are incarcerated. Unidentified Speaker 5 said there is a statutory requirement to cover inmates but that coverage often does not apply while they are incarcerated, and Unidentified Speaker 3 confirmed efforts by groups such as NACO and UAC and state legislators to pursue options for coverage before release.
The group discussed a Medicaid pilot referenced as the "11 15 program which is Medicaid" (speaker wording). Unidentified Speaker 6 encouraged staff to provide analyses of potential returns and feasibility if the county wants to participate in a pilot. Commissioners asked whether coverage or billing could begin 30 days prior to release; staff replied that a 30‑day rule applies to state prisoners in state prison but not currently to local jail populations.
No formal motion or vote appears in the provided transcript. Speaker 1 asked staff to provide a detailed breakout of medical costs, revenues and transfers and said they would follow up with the sheriff to review the numbers. The requested follow-up is the next procedural step for the committee to determine whether shifting accounting treatment or pursuing billing/Medicaid options is practicable.
