Saline County Jail Increases Housing Rate for Department of Corrections Inmates to $109.33 Per Day

The Saline County Jail will begin charging the Kansas Department of Corrections $109.33 per day to house inmates who have violated parole, nearly doubling the previous rate of $61.23 established three years ago.

Sheriff Roger Soldan presented the new rate to county commissioners during Tuesday's meeting, explaining that the figure was calculated using the same methodology as before: dividing the annual cost of operating the jail by the number of days inmates spent in the facility.

"With our inmate count being down, the cost per day is up per inmate," Soldan told commissioners. The new rate remains below the Department of Corrections' maximum allowable per diem of $112.82.

From January through September 2023, the jail housed DOC inmates for 753 days, generating $46,106 in revenue at the current rate. Had the new rate been in effect, the county would have received approximately $36,000 more during that period.

When asked if DOC might reject the increase, Soldan indicated he believes the rate is fair and noted that the department has been reliable with payments.

The inmates remain in Salina County rather than being transferred to other facilities because they have court proceedings locally.

The sheriff plans to begin billing at the new rate immediately following the commission meeting and will provide commissioners' meeting minutes to the Department of Corrections as documentation of the rate change.