The Costs OF A Jail

From the smallest to the largest, all counties in Nebraska elect a sheriff. The county sheriffs throughout Nebraska have several duties and responsibilities, with their number one responsibility law enforcement.

State statutes requires the sheriff to serve, execute and return writs or other legal process issued by a lawful authority. The sheriff shall prepare and file an annual inventory statement of county personal property in his or her custody. The sheriff has charge and custody of the jail and its prisoners, except where a county board of corrections exists and has duties over the jail. It is the duty of the sheriff to keep the peace, apprehend criminals and perform other duties as peace officer. The sheriff may appoint deputies.

When the Nebraska State Patrol, Kimball County Sheriff's Office or Kimball Police Department detain and arrest someone within the confines of Kimball County, that person will be taken to the Kimball County Jail under the administration of the Kimball County sheriff. The jail is located on the third floor of the Kimball County Courthouse.

Kimball County Jail is inspected once a year by the Jail Standards Board, but Kimball County Jail has been grandfathered into the system due to the age of the facility. Kimball houses only males inmates. Females are transported to another facility.

A juvenile, female or an unruly or dangerous individual usually is transferred out of the Kimball facility, but Kimball County taxpayers must pay for their lodging at another facility, and the charges are anywhere from $60-$100 per day.

A recent example of this predicament was a female felon who was arrested by the Nebraska State Patrol for a gun violation. She was transported and housed in the Garden County Jail for a week. She bonded out – but Kimball County will be billed for the week she spent in the Garden County Jail.

The Kimball County Jail is certified to hold 10 individuals. The jail is currently housing only five, but that can change rapidly.

In recent months, the prison population has risen. Sheriff Dave Hottell attributed some of the rise in jail population to judges holding people longer on bond violations.

Prisoners in the Kimball County Jail receive three meals a day, and the meals must meet dietary requirements, according to the Jail Standards Board. Usually, the prisoners eat cereal in the morning, receive a sandwich and chips for lunch, and for supper they get their required hot meal; examples include spaghetti or tater tot casserole.

The meals are prepared by the dispatchers who make everything from scratch, as opposed to the Cheyenne County Jail inmates who are served a Hungary Man dinner for their hot meal.

Once a person is booked into jail, the county becomes responsible for their medical expenses for the extent of their incarceration. Individuals may suffer from a variety of illnesses.

When they are taken to the Kimball Health Clinic, a deputy must accompany them and remain with them for the duration of their stay at the hospital. Sheriff Hottell recently received a $24,000 bill for an inmate for medical expenses. Fortunately, the jail pays Medicaid prices so the bill will be significantly cheaper.

Individuals incarcerated are able to stay in contact with family and friends through an iPod-like device.

In Kimball, jailed individuals receive an iPod device. They are able to text and call, yet the jail receives a small reimbursement for those charges from from the company that operates the devices.

The seven full-time 24/7 dispatchers are responsible for not only dispatching but also booking arrestees, preparing the prisoner meals, hourly checks on the jail population, and attending to other business as the need arises. Prisoners are required by jail standards to be allowed to exercise one hour a day, Monday through Friday.