3/26/14 - As county officials prepare for the multi-million dollar expansion of the Livingston County Jail, one way being looked at to help pay for the increased operating expenses is by housing federal inmates at the new facility. Running an expanded jail is expected to cost an additional $2.5 million per year, and officials have been trying to find ways to come up with that money with as little additional county taxpayer dollars as possible. Under a proposed agreement, as many as 40 beds would be leased to the U.S. Marshals Service at $85 per day. There would also be an additional $30 per hour fee when deputies from the Livingston County Sheriffâs Department transport the inmates. That would account for approximately $1.2 million per year, or roughly half of the expanded facilityâs operating expenses. The proposed agreement, which still needs approval by the full Board of Commissioners, would start May 1st of this year and run until April of 2017. However, only a few extra federal inmates could be housed until the full expansion is completed next year. The $13.4 million expansion is expected to increase the jailâs capacity from 254 inmates to 442 inmates and resolve overcrowding issues that have been a problem for the last ten years. (JK)
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