County raises jail rates

Municipalities will be paying more to incarcerate their prisoners at the Cherokee County Detention Center this fiscal year.

Cherokee County Interim Administrator Ben Clary said the per diem rate will increase from $42.37 to $44.32. The new rate is retroactive to July 1, Clary said.

The increase isn't as dramatic as two years ago when the per diem rate rose from $43.63 in 2005 to $48.84 in the 2006 fiscal year.

The per diem rate is based on, for the most part, the overall operational costs at the county jail.

"There are a lot of things that enter into it," Clary said. "The costs have gone up because of an increase in wages."

Several years ago, a jail fees controversy erupted when the city's finance committee balked at paying the county's proposed jail fee that rose from $32.81 to $42.17 per inmate.

The two sides wrangled for more than six months before the city agreed to pay the fees, which dropped after a computer glitch was discovered that overestimated the number of days city prisoners were detained at the facility.