This came out in the Montgomery Advertiser this morning, January 17, 2002

Senate panel nullifies jail time for fines

State law allows a judge to keep someone in jail for unpaid fines. At least one Alabama sheriff wants to change that because he said it's a bad deal for taxpayers.  He's convinced a state senator to try to change that. "It's costing more to keep them in there than the fines," said state Sen. Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb. Smith's bill to repeal the option of jail time for unpaid fines won approval Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. It costs, according to the Association of County Commissions of Alabama. The law allows inmates to be jailed one day for every $10 owed. It still must pass the House and Senate to become law. The bill was initiated by Houston County Sheriff Lamar Glover, who said housing prisoners for unpaid fines contributed to jail overcrowding. "It makes no sense," Glover said. "There's no rationale for putting somebody in jail for payment of fines when it's going to cost us $33 a day to house them. Neither Glover nor Smith knew the magnitude of the problem statewide. Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said probably 15 or 20 of the 197 prisoners in the Elmore County jail are there for unpaid fines. Franklin said he tries to put such inmates on work release programs. The county gets 25 percent of their gross salary and the inmates have an income to pay the fines. "I try my best to take a negative and try to turn it into a positive," Franklin said. Montgomery County Sheriff D.T. Marshall said he didn't think housing inmates for unpaid fines was a problem in the Montgomery County jail. Marshall said the threat of jail time served a purpose."At some point, they have to be convinced to pay," Marshall said. Marshall said the problem of those with unpaid fines filling jail space is probably greater in some city jails, including Montgomery's. A call to the Montgomery Police Department's public information office Wednesday was not returned. Glover is one of the state's most outspoken sheriffs on the problem of jail overcrowding and helped push the Alabama Department of Corrections to relieve county jails of some state inmates last year. The Houston County jail, built in 1982 with a capacity of 98, had 251 prisoners on Wednesday. Glover has studied causes of jail overcrowding and realized the incarceration of those owing fines was a contributing factor. "You sentence them to 90 days and give them a fine for X number of dollars," Glover said. "After they serve their sentence, and their fines and court costs are not paid, they work those out for $10 a day." For example, someone with $500 in unpaid fines and court costs would have to serve another 50 days. When you're dealing with an indigent, all you're doing is putting a burden on the taxpayer," Glover said. Sonny Brasfield, assistant executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, said the group supports the bill. Brasfield said counties must also provide medical care for prisoners, which makes jailing people for unpaid fines even more costly. Brasfield said he didn't know of other sheriffs who share Glover's concerns, but thinks there are some. Glover also said he hadn't heard from other sheriffs about the problem. One variable is how different judges exercise their discretion. Glover said on Wednesday there were 30 inmates in his jail who faced jail time at the end of their terms because of unpaid fines. Autuaga County Sheriff Pete Johnson was unavailable for comment.