A press release from the Association of Minnesota Counties:

ST. PAUL -- Standing shoulder-to-shoulder before a backdrop of hundreds of orange and yellow county-issued prisoner jumpsuits, more than 100 county commissioners and sheriffs crowded the state capitol’s south steps today to deliver a message to lawmakers and Governor Tim Pawlenty: it’s time to reform the way the state does business with local government or government will shut down.

“Minnesota’s counties cannot afford to continue to be the state’s ATM machine,” said Paul Wilson, Olmsted County commissioner and president of the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC). “Too often, legislators and the governor fail to make the hard budget decisions and choose to pass the buck to counties. Well, we have a message for them: ‘No more.’”

As part of a final deal during the 2003 legislative session to balance the state’s budget, state lawmakers and the governor agreed to transfer some state prison responsibilities to county jails. In the agreement, county jails were ordered to house short-term offenders (STOs) – felons with six months or less remaining on their sentence. In 2004, the first time counties were required to take felons, 1,832 STOs were housed in county jails for a total of 85,351 days. Today, the number has jumped to 2,619 inmates in county jails for a combined total of 131,281 days.

Jim McDonough, a Ramsey County Commissioner and vice president of the AMC, said he agrees the idea of housing short-term offenders in county jails makes sense, but not leaving county property taxpayers holding the bill. He said the 2003 budget agreement that required county jails to accept STOs did not come with additional funding to help counties absorb the cost increase. As a result, many counties have been forced to increase property taxes to pay for the state’s responsibilities.

“Short-term offenders need to be successfully reintroduced into their communities, so from a reintegration standpoint, housing them locally makes sense,” McDonough said. “But the governor and state lawmakers think housing these offenders in county jails, or essentially make-shift prisons, saves taxpayers money. I tell people, ‘look at your property tax statements. You aren’t saving any money.’”

While the number of inmates and days in county jails has substantially increased, the state’s reimbursement to counties for housing its felons has fallen from $13.04 per day in 2004 to an estimated $9 per day in 2009. The actual cost of housing felons ranges from $55-$75 per day, leaving local property taxpayers to pay an estimated $7-$9.6 million in 2009.

“Imagine filling up your car with $3.75 per gallon gas and then telling the gas station attendant that you’ll only pay $1 per gallon,” said Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner. “You would go to jail. The irony is that you may spend your time in a jail in another state because county jails are filled with the state’s felons.”

To accommodate the state’s felons, numerous counties have resorted to sending inmates to facilities in other counties or states. St. Louis County’s jail is full and STOs are always sent to other facilities. The same is true for Chisago County, where STOs are sent to Washington, Isanti, Benton, Meeker County, as well as Polk County, Wis.

Mower County sends inmates to Freeborn and Goodhue County, as well as Mitchell County, Iowa. Since Mower County is a 90 day lock-up, local law enforcement must send inmates to other facilities after 90 days. To accommodate the state’s felons, Mower County officials are seeking innovative measures to fund the new jail to reduce the costs to local taxpayers, including using taxes collected wind energy projects.

In 2008, the top 10 counties housing the state’s STOs: Ramsey (22,066 days), Hennepin (21,443), St. Louis (8,181), Olmsted (7,154), Anoka (6,611), Washington (5,303), Dakota (4,380), Stearns (4,192), Kandiyohi (3,633), and Beltrami (2,644).

“Minnesota’s counties want to be a partner with the state to reduce the cost of housing inmates, but this will not happen as long as the governor and lawmakers continue to treat us like another state agency,” said Cook County Commissioner Bob Fenwick.

“County commissioners across the state stand ready to work with lawmakers to reform state government with transparency and innovative solutions. If we don’t reform the way we do business, unfortunately local governments will shut down because of the burdens placed on them by the state.”

The STO program is only one of many ways the legislature and governor have shifted state responsibilities to Minnesota counties, resulting in unfunded mandates destroying county budgets and removing local control. Local county commissioners are asking the state to reexamine its relationship with counties and find new, innovative ways to reform government.