There ought to be a state law requiring jail inmates to pay for their keep, Ada County commissioners say.
But an Idaho Legal Aid attorney suing the county over its jail conditions called that a "knee-jerk idea" that would produce little money and increase county welfare outlays.Commissioners John Bastida, Vern Bisterfeldt and Gary Glenn said Thursday that they will urge the Idaho Association of Counties to lobby the 1992 Legislature to require the payments.
"If criminals do the crime, they not only should do the time, they should have to pay taxpayers back for the costs," they said in a joint statement.
"The costs of jailing a growing inmate population are an increasing burden on Idaho's counties, pressuring county officials to raise local property taxes."
But Howard Belodoff, associate state legal aid director, said such ideas are no solution.
"They sound good. But how much money are we talking about?" he asked.
Bisterfeldt said that was being researched by the sheriff's office.
"Every little penny we can scrounge is a penny less property taxes," he said.