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Jail Doesn’t Protect Inmate Funds

A Kootenai County Jail inmate places a call on Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene. In internal audit by the county determined that inmates and their families weren’t properly informed of expense service charges. (Kristen McPeek / Coeur d'Alene Press)
By D.F. Oliveria daveo@spokesman.com(509) 319-0354
A Kootenai County Jail inmate places a call on Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene. In internal audit by the county determined that inmates and their families weren’t properly informed of expense service charges. (Kristen McPeek / Coeur d'Alene Press)
A Kootenai County Jail inmate places a call on Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene. In internal audit by the county determined that inmates and their families weren’t properly informed of expense service charges. (Kristen McPeek / Coeur d'Alene Press)

An internal audit by Kootenai County found jail personnel didn’t adequately protect and account for money they must manage for those in custody. It also found the county didn’t get repaid back tens of thousands of dollars it spent on medical care for inmates, and that inmates were getting charged hidden fees for telephone service in the jail. The audit was performed at the request of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail at 5500 N. Government Way. “I knew that we could probably do things better in these areas,” Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said Tuesday. “So let’s have the experts tell us how to do it better.” Nearly 150 inmates were released with unspent credit balances in their jail accounts, ranging from a penny to $489.30 from Feb. 28, 2013, to March 18/ David Cole , Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.

Question: Um, this doesn’t sound right. Thoughts?

* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Huckleberries Online." Read all stories from this blog