OFFENDER FINES BEING PUT INTO GENERAL OPERATIONS BUDGET?????
What in the world?
At a recent FOCUS Group meeting (April 7, 2014) the question
“When an inmate is issued a fine for an infraction, and money is collected, how
are these funds dispersed and recorded?”, was asked of Gary Sessions (Finance
Director for UDC) and Brian Allgaier (Financial Manager of Inmate Funds
Accounting). Their answer was that the money is recorded and stays at the
institution. Neither one really answered the part about how the funds are
recorded.
They then go on to say that the funds collected are placed
into the general operation fund and used for….now get this! UTILITIES, LAUNDRY,
FOOD, and different expenses to run the facility. Excuse us but are the
taxpayers’ pockets now being double dipped into?????
These Offenders, if they are lucky enough to score a job
inside the walls, work for about forty cents an hour! Given a 40 hour week,
this is approximately 25.00 a MONTH! And if an Offender is having child support
payments taken what’s left to pay these fines. Who is actually paying these fines? The family
is! We are already paying taxes that should be going into the operational fund
so why are we being penalized once again by the higher uppers at UDC?
Think about a single mom, through no fault of her own is now being penalized. She
did not commit the crime. But now she is left to raise and provide for herself
and her children. Her Offender is hit with a large fine….the rumor is that now
it is sometimes $200! She wants to help and puts money on the books. This is
most likely taken from her household money that SHOULD be used to feed and
provide for those children! WHY does UDC see the need to FINE this kind of
money knowing good and well that this Offender is usually not the one paying
it!
Come on UDC, your budget for the 2013 FY was over 265
MILLION dollars. And this includes $340,000 in FEDERAL FUNDING! Add to what the
Legislature approves is the profit from Utah Correctional Industries of over
$21,000. Then you have $1.5M in surcharges from the prison phone system going
into the pot!
UDC, STOP penalizing the families! They are having a hard
enough time because, in some instances, the major wage owner is no longer
there. STOP taking out of the mouths of the innocent children who did nothing
to deserve the lives they are being forced into living…a life without a mother
or a father.
Want a suggestion on how to stretch that budget? Release
some of the first time offenders with no prior criminal record. Utilize the
Fortitude Center for Parole Violators instead of sending them back to prison on
a technical violation. Be better stewards of OUR money!
If the Offender breaks the rules, punish THEM for that
infraction but STOP punishing the families.
