Inmate Welfare Fund Account

The Inmate Welfare Fund holds all deposits of money, refund, rebate, or commission received from the Inmate Commissary and Inmate Phone Services. The inmate telephone provider, Securus Phone Systems, provides commissions attributable to the use of pay telephones which are primarily used by inmates while incarcerated.

All money and property deposited in the Inmate Welfare Fund is managed by the Sheriff primarily for the benefit, education, and welfare of the inmates confined within the jail. Any funds that are not needed for the welfare of the inmates can be expended for the maintenance of county jail facilities. Maintenance of the county jail facility may include, the salary and benefits of personnel used in the programs to benefit the inmates, including, but not limited to, education, drug and alcohol treatment, welfare, library, accounting, and other programs deemed appropriate by the Sheriff.

Money in the Inmate Welfare Fund is not used to pay required county expenses of confining inmates in a local detention system, such as meals, clothing, housing, or medical services or expenses. An annual budget is prepared and an itemized report of these expenditures is submitted annually to the Board of Supervisors.

The Sheriff may expend money from the inmate welfare fund to provide indigent inmates, prior to release from the county jail with essential clothing and transportation expenses within the county or transportation to the inmate's county of residence.