By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — A change in state law in which counties can now bill the state for housing level 6 felons is paying off handsomely for the state.
The new law kicked into gear in July, and in one month, it resulted in about $ 40,000 in additional revenue for the county.
Sheriff Jim Smith said the increase could result in as much as $400,00 in new revenues in the coming year.
Smith said the county tends to house more level six felons than any other county across the state.
He said there’s nothing wrong with that approach and that it’s just a matter of how judges go about sentencing.
“Their hearts are in the right place,” Smith said. “They need to be accountable, but rather than sending them off to prison, we’ll try to keep them here locally.”
In Indiana, a Level 6 felony is the least serious type of felony offense. It carries a potential sentence of six months to two and a half years in prison, and judges have significant discretion in sentencing.
In an era where property tax revenues are shrinking (as a result of other actions by the state legislature), the new jail policy is a bright spot.
“It could be potentially significant,” Smith told county council members during a budget session earlier this week. “We’re pretty excited about it.”
Those types of incoming revenues are placed in the county’s general fund and can be used for a wide variety of uses, including — potentially — for the jail if approved by the county council.
On a related note, the state has struggled in recent years to keep up with payments to counties for housing convicted criminals in the past, but the legislature increased funding to the state department of correction by $60 million this year — a move that should help alleviate the lag in payments.
Housing convicted felons for the state is not hurting the county in terms of jail capacity.
The current jail population remains well below maximum capacity.
Last winter, the inmate population in the county dipped below 200, but those numbers often rise in the summertime, and this week, the number stood at 233.
The jail’s full capacity is 305 inmates.
