Sheriffs angry at Utah

It's one of the longest-simmering political standoffs in Utah: The feud between Utah's sheriffs and the Legislature over reimbursement for state inmates who serve time in county jails has boiled for more than 15 years. And the fracas has resulted in some bad blood between the two groups.

Last week, Utah Department of Corrections officials reported that the $9.5 million 2005 fiscal year budget for jail reimbursements will run out this month, leaving an estimated $1.7 million shortfall, which counties will have to eat. Both county and state officials say the budget has consistently fallen short every fiscal year since the system was set up more than 15 years ago.

The problem has prompted some of the Legislature's leaders to call for a legislative audit of the state's jail reimbursement program.

Year after year, shortfalls cost counties tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, sheriffs say. While the state's 2006 fiscal year will kick in July 1, none of the new state funds can be used to cover the shortfall from the prior year.

"There's a definite distrust with the Legislature," said Davis County Sheriff Bud Cox, who is president of the Utah Sheriff's Association. According to the Davis County Sheriff's Office, the 2005 shortfall will leave the county to cover an estimated $420,000.

Cox said the bottom line is that many county sheriffs feel the Legislature doesn't keep its promises. There are even those among the lawmakers who feel the Legislature hasn't been forthright.

"I know both sides, and I'll be honest with you, I don't think the Legislature has kept its promise," said Sen. David Thomas, R-South Weber, co-chairman of the Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee.

Thomas, who is the chief civil deputy attorney for Summit County, said he feels the Legislature has gone back on a deal struck with the sheriffs several years ago. That agreement was for the state to cover 70 percent of the costs of felons who are sentenced to do time in county jails.

A judge has two options in putting felons behind bars: He or she can send a felon to prison or send him to serve up to a year in a county jail.

Jails then send reimbursement forms to the Department of Corrections for the days inmates are incarcerated, at a rate of about $34 a day. In reality, with budget shortfalls, Cox said the state ends up paying about 60 percent, or less.

"We don't want to release them, we want the Legislature to honor its commitment to us, the county jail, and pay us for their inmates."