MONROE - Green County Jail inmates already pay $16.50 plus taxes daily for the privilege of getting Huber Law work-release.
Soon they could join inmates in many other Wisconsin counties in an additional, one-time processing fee.
At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the Green County Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee voted to recommend establishing a $25 processing fee. The full Board of Supervisors will make a final decision on the fee at its August meeting.
Charging a Huber processing fee is customary in Wisconsin, according to Sheriff Jeff Skatrud. He said fees around the state vary from $15 to $50 and help cover the staffing costs of verifying an inmate's employment and transportation arrangements. He suggested $25 in Green County.
Chairperson Dennis Dalton urged the committee to recommend a higher fee of $30 to $35, arguing that inmates should have to pay for the privilege of leaving to go to work.
Committee member Sherri Fiduccia countered that inmates often go to minimum-wage jobs when out on work-release and may have trouble affording a higher fee. She suggested giving the $25 fee a trial run.
The four-member committee voted in favor of a $25 fee, with Dalton voting against it.
In other business at the meeting:
- Skatrud reported the jail population continues to strain capacity. In June, he said the jail had an average daily inmate population of 57 in the building, five out on electronic monitoring and four in other jails.
Electronic monitoring is continuing to do "what it needs to do - it's keeping us from shipping them."
The Green County jail has room for 68 inmates, but the jail usually reaches capacity at a lower number due to rules against mixing genders or mixing sentenced inmates and presentenced inmates.
- The arrival of a new dog for the Sheriff's Department's K-9 Unit is pushed back because the training kennel in Iowa ran into delays from its supplier.
"It's gonna be early fall before we get a dog in the car," Skatrud said. "October wouldn't shock me."
In the meantime, he said the Monroe Police Department is lending help from its K-9 Unit when needed.
Soon they could join inmates in many other Wisconsin counties in an additional, one-time processing fee.
At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the Green County Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee voted to recommend establishing a $25 processing fee. The full Board of Supervisors will make a final decision on the fee at its August meeting.
Charging a Huber processing fee is customary in Wisconsin, according to Sheriff Jeff Skatrud. He said fees around the state vary from $15 to $50 and help cover the staffing costs of verifying an inmate's employment and transportation arrangements. He suggested $25 in Green County.
Chairperson Dennis Dalton urged the committee to recommend a higher fee of $30 to $35, arguing that inmates should have to pay for the privilege of leaving to go to work.
Committee member Sherri Fiduccia countered that inmates often go to minimum-wage jobs when out on work-release and may have trouble affording a higher fee. She suggested giving the $25 fee a trial run.
The four-member committee voted in favor of a $25 fee, with Dalton voting against it.
In other business at the meeting:
- Skatrud reported the jail population continues to strain capacity. In June, he said the jail had an average daily inmate population of 57 in the building, five out on electronic monitoring and four in other jails.
Electronic monitoring is continuing to do "what it needs to do - it's keeping us from shipping them."
The Green County jail has room for 68 inmates, but the jail usually reaches capacity at a lower number due to rules against mixing genders or mixing sentenced inmates and presentenced inmates.
- The arrival of a new dog for the Sheriff's Department's K-9 Unit is pushed back because the training kennel in Iowa ran into delays from its supplier.
"It's gonna be early fall before we get a dog in the car," Skatrud said. "October wouldn't shock me."
In the meantime, he said the Monroe Police Department is lending help from its K-9 Unit when needed.