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PARKERSBURG -- Wood County commissioners are asking local law enforcement agencies to pay an intake fee for prisoners they bring to the county holding center.
A letter was drafted during Thursday's commission meeting, after members discussed the matter with Wood County Sheriff Steve Stephens. A $30-per-person fee would generate approximately $45,000 a year, Commission President Blair Couch said. That money would go toward increasing the pay for the sheriff's correctional officers.
"I'm not looking to raise numbers," Stephens said. "I'm just looking to keep the staff I've got."
Stephens said his department employs 18 corrections officers, including those working for home confinement. In the last 60 days, he said, he's had three leave for better-paying jobs.
"I had one guy leave to go to the private sector to flag traffic," Stephens said.
When he took office at the beginning of 2017, Stephens said, the starting salary for a county corrections officer was $24,000 a year. After some positions were combined or eliminated, that rose to $25,000, he said, which is still less than some county employees in administrative assistant positions.
Some former employees took jobs in Ohio, where they can make $9 more an hour, Stephens said.
"That's pretty tough to turn down," county Administrator Marty Seufer said.
Couch said the holding center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but is only required by law to be open during Wood County Circuit Court's business hours. However, staying open around the clock benefits local law enforcement and arrested individuals alike, he said. In many cases, people can remain at the holding center until their arraignment and, if they post bond, release, rather than having an officer take them to the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County.
"The holding center's providing a real service to cities," Commissioner Bob Tebay said.
The intake fee is not mandatory.
"It's a soft request," Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said.
According to 2017 booking numbers, Parkersburg Police brought the most people to the holding center, with 1,183, followed by the sheriff's department at 634.
Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce said he would take the request into consideration as he and Finance Director Eric Jiles draft the 2018-19 municipal budget.
"It's certainly going to require some reconsideration … how we go about affording that, should the city decide to participate," the mayor said.
Parkersburg would have paid $35,490 for 2017 if the fee had been in place.
Williamstown housed 22 subjects at the holding center in 2017, which would have cost $660. Mayor Jean Ford said she would take the issue to City Council, who she expects to be receptive.
"I know something is going to have to be done to keep them (corrections officers)," she said. "We want to help out the county in any way we can."
Vienna's cost would have been $4,290 based on the 143 people its police department took to the holding center. Mayor Randy Rapp said the center provides a valuable service for the city.
"We couldn't do that for that cost," he said. "If we have to pay our share, we'll pay our share."
The West Virginia State Police and bail bonding companies will also be asked to pay, Couch said.
In other business, jail bill auditor Pam Brust submitted a report to commissioners Thursday showing that the county has received $200,092.55 in credits for overpayments to the Regional Jail Authority since she began reviewing records in March. That's compared to $112,000 in previous years.
Once debit memos are figured in, those figures come to $177,318.55 for the last 10 months and $72,724.74 for the previous 10 years.
The audit is currently in the year 2010, although Brust notes in her memo that the North Central Regional Jail has continued to reject requests dealing with bills prior to 2012. The credit memo requests include a copy of the case commitment file as documentation "since regional jail officials have said they do not have files from that time frame," it says.
At a glance
Wood County Holding Center 2017 bookings by agency
≤ Parkersburg Police -- 1,183
≤ Wood County Sheriff -- 634
≤ West Virginia State Police -- 154
≤ Vienna Police -- 143
≤ Wood County Home Confinement -- 118
≤ Adult Probation -- 92
≤ Parkersburg Violent Crimes & Narcotics Task Force -- 52
≤ Williamstown Police -- 22
≤ Bonding companies -- 15