Video: The Cost Of Housing Inmates

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI)—Inside a jail there are people facing a wide range of charges, from excessive traffic tickets to capital murder.

However, if you have some suspects involved in the same crime there could be trouble. Sometimes there’s an overcrowding issue.

” I got to transport, I got to pay doctors, I got to pay community counseling, Whatever they need I go to take care of it,”said Noxubee County Sheriff Terry Grassaree.

Inmates are expensive. They must receive care and the basic necessities.

The price tag to keep someone behind bars goes up when they have to be housed in another county.

” If I have four people in my jail and I have to send three of them out, that’s 35 dollars a day. That’s close to a hundred, two hundred dollars a week. Every three days It’s going to be 100 dollars,”said Grassaree.

Most suspects will have a bond. If they can’t pay, they must stay.

Grassaree says this creates problems in his jail when two people are charged in connection with the same crime.

“What will happen, either the strongest one will try and take advantage of the weakest one and try to get them to change their story or they are trying to get the same story together and nobody wants that. So we are always going to try and separate them,”said Grassaree.

Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney sees similar situations.

“It could even be where you arrested someone and that inmates family member’s already back there. So you don’t want to… That could cause a serious problem,”said Gladney.

The counties that make the arrest are still responsible for taking the inmates where they need to be.

“If I send an inmate to another facility when he is ill, I still have to send my man to pick him up and bring him back. They are housing him for me but I am responsible for his other needs. If he has to go back and forth to court I’m responsible for that,”said Gladney.

Both sheriffs say there are grateful other agencies are willing to lend a helping hand.

“I’ll go to another facility and and maybe carry one ask somebody to keep one there and they do the same thing here. They will give me a call and say hey I need to bring one to you. I’m fortunate I have a good working relationship with the sheriff’s in the surrounding counties,” Gladney.

“Usually the other sheriff’s Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay they’re pretty good with me even Kemper County and Winston. I got a good working relationship with them that if they can do me a favor they will,”said Grassaree.

The four capital murder suspects are still awaiting trial.