West Virginia Press Association – Because county governments must ultimately pay the costs associated with keeping people behind bars in their local jails, the explosion of county jail incarceration is driving enormous and growing pressure on county budgets. Read the full article.
County spending on jails is rising, and the amount billed to counties by the Regional Jail Authority is rising even more quickly, leading to a significant and growing gap between the true costs of jail incarceration and counties’ ability to pay. This is propelling a burgeoning jail debt crisis with the potential to cripple county budgets, especially now as the pandemic recession pushes many county budgets into deficit due to falling tax revenues.
