As the toast burns in Alexander County, Illinois.
SEMO:
Alexander County pays off debt to Tri-County Jail, but budget problems persist
ULLIN, Ill. — Even as Alexander County’s financial troubles continue to mount, the sheriff’s department will be able to continue housing inmates in the Tri-County Detention Facility in Ullin, authorities said Monday.
The $86,000 in back payments the county owed to house prisoners in the jail has now been paid in full, excluding costs for the month of September, which haven’t been submitted yet, said Alexander County Treasurer Frances Lee.
Two lawsuits for non-payment that were levied against Alexander County over the summer had created a tenuous situation for the future of the contract with Tri-County, but the balance of the bill was paid off Monday.
Tri-County is a privately run hoosegow that serves Alexander, Pulaski and Union Counties, and the U.S. Marshals, Federal HLS and the Illinois State Police also house people at that facility. So Alexander only needs to pay prorated costs for their jailbirds, though since Alexander contains heavily black Cairo, I could imagine that their share is by far the highest of the three counties that use it. That said, they couldn’t even afford their share, much less a whole hoosegow for their own county alone.
