COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

SHERIFF’S OFFICE

DATE:

January 4, 2007

BOARD MEETING DATE:

January 23, 2007

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Sheriff Greg Munks

SUBJECT:

Revised Fee Schedules for Work Furlough and Electronic Monitoring Programs

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a Resolution increasing the per diem administrative fee for the Sheriff’s Work Furlough and Electronic Monitoring Programs.

VISION ALIGNMENT:

The Resolution is consistent with Goal No. 17, in that the Sheriff’s Alternative Sentencing Programs permit households to maintain employment, experience gains in income and maintain the quality of home life for the participant’s families.

BACKGROUND:

The Sheriff has operated a variety of alternative sentencing programs for several years. These include the Work Furlough Program, the Sheriff’s Work Program and the Electronic Monitoring Program (EMP).

The Work Furlough program permits qualified inmates to continue their employment and the Electronic Monitoring Program (EMP) permits persons sentenced to a County correctional facility for a term of 30 days or longer to voluntarily participate in a home detention program in lieu of said confinement.

State law authorizes a Board of Supervisors to prescribe an application fee and a per diem program administrative fee to be paid by persons electing to participate in said Work Furlough Program or EMP, which fees shall not exceed the pro rata cost of the program to which the person is accepted, including equipment, supervision, and other operating costs.

DISCUSSION:

The program application fees for all programs and the administrative fee for the Sheriff’s Work Program are sufficient to meet the current program costs.

However, the current $40.00 maximum participant per diem program administrative fee for the Work Furlough Program and the EMP do not cover the County’s costs of operating those programs, so it is proposed that the maximum per diem fee for both of these two programs be increased to $50.00. The increase will not cover all program costs, but it does lessen the gap between County costs and participant fees.

Consistent with state law, the Sheriff does not consider a person's ability or inability to pay the program fee for the purposes of granting or denying a person's participation in the Work Furlough Program or the EMP. Also consistent with state law, the Sheriff has the option to modify or waive the fees for program supervision when deemed in the interests of justice or based on the changing financial position of the person. However, a review of the scale indicates some unintended inequities in the current fee scale, so a new scale is being proposed. The department has developed a revised sliding scale which sets the charges on said fees based on the ability to pay 35% of the participant’s weekly gross pay (Exhibit A).

FISCAL IMPACT :

The revised fee structure would be effective immediately for newly assigned participants of the programs. The proposed fees are:

One-time Application Fee Per-Diem Participation Fee

$65.00 (no change)

$14.00 - $50.00 (+$10.00)

The Sheriff’s Office has conducted an internal cost review of the Work Furlough Program and the Electronic Monitoring Program. The cost of the programs exceeds the revenue generated from these fees. We anticipate that the combined program fees for FY2006/2007 will total approximately $90,000.00 which is approximately $10,000 more than under the previous fee schedule and the charges will also be distributed more uniformly amongst the participants. The actual fees collected will depend on the participant’s financial status and their ability to pay the fees. The Sheriff’s Office does not deny admittance to any prospective participant in these programs due to their ability or inability to pay the fees. Additionally, it is advantageous to keep the program fees affordable for the majority of inmates, so as to encourage maximum participation in the program.

cc:

Assistant Sheriff Greg Trindle

Captain Mark Hanlon

Deputy Director Lee Lazaro