Every weekday, Kansas.com's Wichita Crime Maps show you all the crimes reported yesterday across Wichita, and every crime reported in your neighborhood for the past week. See them here.
e-mail
print
RSS
reprint
AIM
Digg it
del.icio.usSEDGWICK COUNTY JAIL
Area cities refusing to pay fees to county jail
BY HURST LAVIANA
The Wichita Eagle
Through the first three months of the year, Sedgwick County has billed 17 cities for more than $956,000 for housing their inmates in the Sedgwick County Jail.
So far, the county has collected less than $16,000.
Last month the Sedgwick County sent "demand letters" to the eight cities that have refused to pay the roughly $2.09 hourly fee that the county started charging Jan 1 for housing city inmates in the county jail. Among those refusing to pay is the city of Wichita, which the county says owes $869,087.59.
The letters say the county will pursue "all legal remedies" in its efforts to collect the fees. But county Public Safety Director Bob Lamkey, who oversees the fee program, said the county hasn't decided whether to take the matter to court.
Wichita made its position clear in a March 3 letter from City Attorney Gary Rebenstorf.
"Please be advised that the city of Wichita does not accept these charges and will not be paying them," his letter to the county said.
The history
The dispute over jail fees can be traced back to 1985, when Sedgwick County commissioners faced a dilemma.
There were legal challenges to the practice of forcing a growing inmate population into an old jail built for 135 people. And there was a property tax lid that kept commissioners from raising taxes to build a new jail.
The Kansas Legislature tried to help by giving commissioners the authority to impose a special one-mill jail tax. The law said the property tax could be imposed "in lieu of charging city authorities for the cost of maintenance of prisoners."
The authority came as an amendment to an existing law that Lamkey said clearly gives counties the right to charge cities for the use of their jails.
Lamkey said the property tax lid was removed years ago, and he said the county managed to build a new jail without using the special tax.
"I would suggest to you that the county has never exercised that option," he said of the special one-mill tax. "The city would take a different view."
The county relied on property taxes to build a new 418-bed jail that opened in 1990, and to build an annex that pushed the capacity to 1,032 when it opened in 1999.
With a 2007 average daily population of 1,522, the county is moving forward with plans to open a 384-bed expansion next year. Lamkey estimates that nearly 20 percent of the inmates are Wichita city prisoners.
Rebenstorf said that Wichita taxpayers, who pay 75 percent of the county's property taxes, have paid more than their share of recent jail construction.
"Over the years the county has levied tons of money for the jail," he said.
"Having Wichita citizens pay more to the county is just not right from a policy standpoint, and it's not right from a legal standpoint. They don't have the authority to do this."
Managing the jail
Lamkey said the dispute over fees is not about money, but about managing inmate populations.
The fees were recommended in a December 2003 report prepared by a consultant looking for ways to slow population growth. The consultant said the fees would encourage cities to find alternatives to jail for their inmates, Lamkey said.
"A free jail invites overuse," Lamkey said. "There's no incentive to not use the jail or to use it wisely."
Lamkey said most large Kansas counties, including Butler and Harvey, charge cities for the use of their jails.
Lamkey said Sedgwick County has tried to control population growth through programs that divert inmates to a mental health facility or a day-reporting center where they can be monitored outside the jail. He said cities that use those programs are not charged.
Rebenstorf noted that Wichita absorbs a large share of the county's criminal justice costs by prosecuting misdemeanor cases in Wichita Municipal Court.
Caught in the middle
Although their bills are much smaller than Wichita's, other Sedgwick County cities have had mixed reactions when asked to pay the jail fees.
The county has agreed to repay some cities that paid their bills should it lose a court battle over its right to collect the jail fees, Lamkey said.
Maize City Administrator Richard LaMunyon said his city researched the issue and decided to pay the bills, which have amounted to about $800 during the first quarter of 2008.
"Based on our research we thought this was the proper way to go," said LaMunyon, a former Wichita police chief. "We made a little adjustment in our court fees, so it's no burden on taxpayers. It hasn't created undue pressure on us in terms of money."
Bel Aire City Administrator Ty Lasher said officials in his city decided not to pay the bills, which have been running about $5,000 a month. He said the decision came after discussions with the city's attorney and officials of other cities.
"We believe the citizens of Bel Aire are already paying for the jail," he said.
Reach Hurst Laviana at 316-268-6499 or hlaviana@wichitaeagle.com.
