SB 342 (Peake) seeks to provide relief to localities for the costs of housing state-responsible inmates in local and regional jails. The bill provides that local and regional jails would be compensated for the actual costs of housing state-responsible inmates; currently, the state contributes to the cost of housing these inmates by funding salaries for sheriffs’ deputies and providing per diem payments of $12 per inmate per day, but these funds do not cover the full costs of housing inmates. Per diem rates have not been adjusted since 2010. VACo spoke in favor of the bill when it was heard by the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee on January 12; the bill was reported and rereferred to the Senate Finance Committee.
VACo Contact: Katie Boyle