Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Restricted Funds topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Controller flags legal limits on opioid and inmate‑benefit funds as constraints on budgeting choices
Summary
Controller Scott Park told commissioners he found $600,000 in opioid funds and $392,000 in inmate‑benefit receipts previously budgeted to supplant general‑fund spending; Park said legal restrictions likely limit uses and that attorneys are reviewing allowable expenditures.
During the Oct. 10 Budget Committee meeting, Controller Scott Park identified budgeted uses of restricted funds that may be legally impermissible and could shrink the county’s available options.
Park said he found roughly $600,000 of opioid‑settlement money included in the county budget to supplant other expenditures, and that using that funding to replace general‑fund obligations could ‘‘violate the state law’’ or settlement terms. He also reported about $392,000 in the inmate benefit fund — revenues generated by inmate commissary, tablet and phone fees — that by policy and legal practice should be used for items that directly benefit inmates rather than to cover county obligations such as medical care the county is otherwise required to provide.
‘‘I don't think we can use the opioid money for…supplanting county expenditures,’’ Park said. He told commissioners that he has asked the sheriff's office for its policy on the inmate fund and asked the county attorney to advise on legal uses.
Park suggested permissible uses for the inmate benefit fund could include library books, events that directly benefit inmates or a reentry coordinator, but said paying for required jail medical care or food would be inappropriate because the county is statutorily required to provide those services.
Park requested time to revise the budget once legal guidance is received and said staff will present options that respect legal limits; commissioners discussed using restricted or one‑time funds only as a short‑term measure, with consensus that sustained operating costs should not be funded with one‑time monies.
Next steps: controller's office and county attorney to clarify allowable uses and report back to commissioners before finalizing the tentative budget.
