Jail break for Ray, Clay? Maybe

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Jail break for Ray, Clay? Maybe

Fri, 03/05/2021 - 03:58
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JEFFERSON CITY – A jail break of the financial kind is under review in the Missouri General Assembly. The state makes every county in Missouri responsible for the cost to house inmates awaiting trial on state charges. The state reimburses counties for the time inmates stay in county jails, but at only a fraction of the actual cost, leaving county taxpayers holding the bag for the remainder. For Ray County jail services, the state debt so far this year comes to $94,608, County Clerk Glenda Powell said. “They have started paying,” Powell said. Clay County Sheriff’s Capt. Amiee Agderian said a rough estimate for the debt there is $548,000. Gov. Mike Parson’s fiscal 2022 state budget proposal requests $58 million to get Missouri out of debt for county jail reimbursements. Parson is a former county sheriff who has experienced the fiscal crunch caused by the state’s decades-long failure to pay jail debts. Powell said having the state pay the full amount “would be wonderful.” Rep…

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