Is this a scorcher? You bet.
It used to be possible to deposit funds to the commissary account of an inmate or detainee at the McHenry County (Ill.) Jail and not pay a fee. For example, a friend or family member could put $20.00 in an inmate's account with a credit card and not pay a fee. It's a simple EFT. That's all. Two cents' worth of bandwidth or cyber whatcha-ma-call-it.
And now? Recently the McHenry County Sheriff's Dept. has changed providers, moving this service from ICSolutions to Access Corrections. (www.inmatedeposits.com)
And the fee now to put $20.00 in an inmate's account!!! $6.95 THAT'S $6.95. Six Dollars and 95 Cents to provide $20 to an inmate for soap, toothpaste, deodorant, snacks.
That service fee is 34.75% of the amount deposited for the inmate. Anyone else think this is highway robbery?
This is an outrageous fee of such a size that it should be illegal.
Who is the clown at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department who made that deal??? And how much commission does the McHenry County Sheriff's Department rake off on every electronic deposit? They already stick it to inmates with a high mark-up on the merchandise and food sold to inmates through the commissary. Now they want to suck up more money just to get funds to the inmates!
Since Keith Nygren's name is still on the front door at the Jail, he must have approved that deal. Corrections Chief Sedlock was not in today to answer that question!
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8 comments:
Can't say I feel sorry for the inmates, but it appears that this is only hurting those that are trying to cover the cost of their family or friend that is in jail. The inmate will still need what they need and the person paying for these items will have to give more. Government at it's usual. Take from those that give the most for those that do the least for society.
Not everyone in jail is guilty, some are held waiting to go to court and don't have the cash to bond out.
A reader submitted the following comment and asked that it not be attributed.
"The jail is not just holding sentenced prisoners, there are people held awaiting trial unable to make bond. (unsentenced) Getting hosed for over priced commissary items is government gone bad. I can understand some profit, but if I'm poor and innocent awaiting trial, I am not actually getting vicariously punished. (Gus' comment: I suspect the writer meant "now", not "not".) Same with the high rate on phone calls. The county doesn't get the money, some private company profits on someones incarceration. (Gus' comment: The Jail actually gets a 50% kickback on phone call costs and puts the money into the Inmate Profit Account (IPA). The problem? It doesn't spend that money on inmate services. A year ago there was a $75,000 balance in the IPA.) ...
"I fear the problem is that Government, not just McHenry County, is ridding itself of some responsibilities and companies are profiting from it. The commissary account is what the inmates used to buy extras such as candy and some toiletries not provided as part of incarceration. (Gus' comment: Inmates also purchase food items (sometimes moldy) from the commissary to supplement the food provided.) Years ago when a person was booked in, their money was segregated from other prisoners and could be used for the commissary. When they were released the remainder was given back to them and they signed for it along with the sheet showing the commissary deductions. That was fine when the county had 40 prisoner tops. (Gus' comment: electronic bookkeeping is much more economical and accurate than manual bookkeeping.) Now with the growing inmate population, just about all jails went cashless. Everything is done by electronic withdrawal. At the end of their incarceration they receive a check for any funds remaining. The entire commissary is now handled by ‘for profit” companies. Much like the food service used to be done by trustee inmates, now a "for profit" company prepares meals. This relieves the jailers/correctional officers of handling money or being accountable for inmate funds. (Gus' comment: McHenry County jailers still deal with inmate money.)
"I am surprised by the handling fee which does sound over the top. In some states the jails are privately operated and bid the operation each few years. Telephone service is done by 'for profit' companies and collect calls from the jail facilities are charging rates approaching international rates." (Gus' comment: direct (non-collect) incur high rates.)
I don't know much about how the jails operate but I remain incredulous to the fee as stated. You’re telling me that if I deposit money into an inmates account, they charge me 34.75%? There must be some math error. Even title loans are subject to closer scrutiny I have sent money via to people via Western Union and paid a far less transaction fee.
According to the provider of the electronic deposit service, there is a $6.95 fee to deposit $20.00 electronically into an inmate's account. That works out to be 34.75%.
Since no one from the Sheriff's Department has written to me to correct this fee, I presume it's correct.
Is it also $6.95 on a $50.00 deposit? Sounds like a flat fee to me and not a percent of the deposit.
Yes, it's flat fee for $20.00-99.99. For depositing less than $20, the fee is $3.95.
I had received $20 from a foreign resident for a detainee. That's how I learned of the $6.95 fee. As I understand it, a phone card costs $20.00, so depositing $19.99 wouldn't have been sufficient for the detainee to buy a phone card.
Should families of detainees or persons awaiting trial (or even of those serving sentences) be "punished" by the exorbitant fees charged for electronic deposits to commissary accounts?
And should detainees or persons awaiting trial be subjected to illegal pricing of commissary items?
There shouldn't be tiers on pricing. The pricing is, by state law, to be fair and competitive with local retail stores. Yeah, sure...
Prisoners cannot go price-shopping. But their commissary price list is a document that is available by FOIA. And then any person can go down the street to Jewel and do a little comparison shopping.
Who is the State's watchdog for abusive pricing? Not the State's Attorney; he represents the Sheriff.
So who can and will investigate the illegal pricing scheme at the McHenry County Jail?
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