Utah Gossip

So apparently a new program is in place for inmates at the Utah County Jail. Those with misdemeanors will be charged $10 per day, due upon their release. (It doesn’t appear that there is a similar program in place for inmates charged with felonies.) According to the Utah County Jail website, the average length of stay is 64 days, so when inmates are released, they immediately owe $640 (more or less, depending on the length of stay). This kind of reminds me of debtors prison - if the inmates can’t work at their jobs, how can they pay this bill upon their release? Of course, inmates usually go to jail for a reason, and they should have to pay their debt to society, however, I don’t agree that they should have to immediately pay the full amount upon release. If they have families, this will add to their hardship since they already had to go a significant amount of time without working or receiving pay. I’m sure there are payment plans in place, but still…

On the other hand, I do think it’s good to help reduce taxpayer costs. It will be interesting to see how this program works out.

Note: Cache County Jail charges a whopping $43 per day for inmates!