Commissioner urges letter to judicial system over long jail stays and rising inmate medical bills
Loading...
Summary
A commissioner told the board that several inmates have been detained since December 2020, raising county medical costs (figures cited in meeting) and asked the manager to write the judicial system to press for faster processing; county staff said the issue is statewide and under discussion with legislators.
A Columbus County commissioner raised alarm Feb. 20 about extended pretrial incarceration and rapidly rising county medical bills for inmates, urging county staff to notify the local judicial system and seek relief.
The commissioner said a review of jail records showed individuals held since Dec. 2, 2020, and said inmate medical bills have reached figures in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, citing recent annual totals (one figure referenced as $640,000 and another as $800,000 in a prior year). He urged the county manager to draft a letter to the judiciary to highlight the financial burden and asked whether the county could press for faster case processing or borrow judicial resources from neighboring counties.
County Manager Eddie Madden said the Association of County Commissioners and local representatives are already discussing rising detainee medical costs with legislators and that staff had circulated a memo to jail leadership on this subject. Madden and other staff said many counties face similar issues and that proposed state‑level remedies are under consideration.
The board did not take formal action beyond direction to staff; commissioners asked administration to follow up on the possibility of a letter or other formal outreach.
