Sheriff reports jail population and new DCJS funding to offset medication costs

The sheriff gave a jail operations update and financial note to the committee. He reported the jail population at 100 inmates — 82 males and 18 females — and described prescription medication, including medication-assisted treatment, as a large recurring expense estimated between $700,000 and $800,000 annually.

"Beginning next year, we're gonna receive, every county is gonna get $75,000 towards that," the sheriff said, adding that additional funding will be allocated based on individual county jail populations and estimating "in total we're gonna get about a $100,000 next year," money the county has not previously received.

The sheriff also provided a brief case-status update about several defendants who pled guilty and were moved to state prison, and invited committee members to a therapy graduation at the jail the following day. Committee members asked follow-up questions about treatment continuation after release; the sheriff said continuation varies by person and may include outpatient treatment and programming after release.