Staff file photo/ An ankle bracelet used for the "house arrest" rests on a desk at the Hamilton County Community Corrections and Alternative Sentencing facility in July 2011.JASPER, Tenn. - Marion County is going to pay more for the electronic monitoring of indigent prisoners thanks to a new state law.
At the Marion County Commission's August meeting, County Attorney Billy Gouger said the rules regarding Tennessee's Electronic Monitoring Indigency Fund changed in June, and the board has until Sept. 15 to accept the new guidelines.
"That is a fund designed to pay for electronic monitoring of folks who are in criminal court," he said. "In years past, the state has largely paid for these types of services."
Gouger said the new law requires local governments to share in that cost now.
"That's nice of them," Commissioner Donald Blansett said.
The law requires a 50/50 split between the county and the state for electronic monitoring services.
To participate, county leaders are required to approve a resolution about the Electronic Monitoring Indigency Fund and sign a memorandum of understanding that sets out the parameters of participation and how the county will pay its part.
"If you elect not to participate, then the county pays all those costs on its own," Gouger said. "So, that's the leverage that the state has to get everybody to participate in this."
"Highway robbery," Blansett added.
Marion will pay through a bank draft on a monthly basis from a special account, and the county only gets reimbursement for individuals who are indigent.
"Well, I haven't found one that could pay for it yet," Marion Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett said.
The board voted unanimously to approve the state's resolution and the MOU.
Blansett asked how much the new law would cost the county.
County Mayor David Jackson said officials suggested putting more money in the account than county leaders thought they would spend.
Burnett said the costs likely wouldn't be over $10,000 per year, so Jackson decided to put $20,000 in the account "just to make sure."
"If the judge goes on [and] tries to put a bracelet on everybody, we've got the money to pay for it," Jackson said. "We'll get at least 50 percent of the money back."
Blansett said if Marion put $100,000 in the account that's how much the state would charge.
"Put $20,000, then all they get is $20,000," he said.
The state would have to notify the county if it tried to draft more than that.
"I'd like to have that deal," Blansett said.
Electronic monitoring devices are mostly issued for medical reasons, Burnett said.
Five prisoners were released with the monitors in Marion in July due to serious health problems.
"That's $8 a day that we have to pay [for the monitors] versus medical bills, so that's saving money," Burnett said. "I'd rather spend $50 a week versus $20,000 for a medical bill. That's the way I look at it."
In other business, the board also unanimously approved a contract with the state concerning court-ordered mental health evaluations.
The arrangement is similar to the electronic monitoring issue, but the state gives a discounted rate for those evaluation services.
"The county has always had to pay for them," Gouger said. "In this situation, they're going to cap it at $450 a day for those individuals who are ordered by the court for mental health evaluation and treatment services."
The deal applies to criminal defendants only.
"If [the board] doesn't enter into this type of contract with the state, then Marion County's rate is going to vary somewhere between $861 and $1,139 [per day]."
Burnett said these types of court orders don't happen often in Marion, and he doesn't think there were any last year.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.