08-21-2018, 12:24 AM
I was sorta talking about this tonight.
Not about the strike. First I've heard of it. But just about the cost of inmates.
One of the counties I cover has a weird spot. It's got two prisons, one of which is the state's only maximum security men's prison. Those count in the census, and have a negligible tax impact, outside of the fact that the state owns the properties and the county receives $0. But it's also the intersection of two interstates which have a high amount of drug trafficking, so the county ends up housing a lot of inmates until they get tried, picking up the tab for their healthcare, food, etc. I was talking to some of the county officials and they estimate the citations from the interstates alone is around 8,000 a year, with about 2,000 drug arrests, each one costing taxpayers thousands of dollars.
That's a pretty big burden on the county.
But it's kind of ironic that the county saves at least close to six figures by using inmate labor. Which still has costs associated.
Anyway, on topic, I don't have any problem with using inmate labor. I think we need to have a lot fewer inmates, though. We've got far too many laws, and too often the answer to a problem is to just incarcerate people. Which makes no sense sometimes (mainly referring to drug and nonviolent offenses).
Not about the strike. First I've heard of it. But just about the cost of inmates.
One of the counties I cover has a weird spot. It's got two prisons, one of which is the state's only maximum security men's prison. Those count in the census, and have a negligible tax impact, outside of the fact that the state owns the properties and the county receives $0. But it's also the intersection of two interstates which have a high amount of drug trafficking, so the county ends up housing a lot of inmates until they get tried, picking up the tab for their healthcare, food, etc. I was talking to some of the county officials and they estimate the citations from the interstates alone is around 8,000 a year, with about 2,000 drug arrests, each one costing taxpayers thousands of dollars.
That's a pretty big burden on the county.
But it's kind of ironic that the county saves at least close to six figures by using inmate labor. Which still has costs associated.
Anyway, on topic, I don't have any problem with using inmate labor. I think we need to have a lot fewer inmates, though. We've got far too many laws, and too often the answer to a problem is to just incarcerate people. Which makes no sense sometimes (mainly referring to drug and nonviolent offenses).
![[Image: 4CV0TeR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4CV0TeR.png)
