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Reverend urges board to address long jail stays and city costs
Summary
Reverend Rico Kane told the board that city inmates are often held for weeks on small fines while the city pays daily housing costs to the county; he urged the board to seek remedies and said the issue has been raised across all six wards.
Reverend Rico Kane addressed the board during public comment to press for action on what he described as a recurring problem: city inmates serving extended jail stays over small fines while the city pays housing costs.
Kane said city inmates "have been locked up in jail for maybe 30, 60, 90 days" on relatively modest fines and that the city, not the county, pays daily housing costs for those detainees in some cases. "They're sitting in jail for $300, 90 days," he said, and he urged the board to look for solutions and coordinate with the judicial branch.
Board members responded that the contract rate for housing city inmates is under discussion and that they had spoken with the judicial branch about the issue. The chair noted the city's contract rate and thanked Kane for raising the concern; no formal policy change was recorded in the meeting transcript.
Next steps: Kane asked the board to pursue the matter and the chair said staff had raised the issue with the judicial branch. The board did not record a vote or take formal action during this meeting.
