Budget withholds funds for sheriff's offices

The Wake County Sheriff's Office stands to lose about $600,000 annually in state funding, and that could mean challenges for the agency, Sheriff Donnie Harrison said Tuesday.

The new $19 billion state budget no longer requires the North Carolina Department of Correction to pay sheriff's offices $18 per day to house inmates serving 30- to 90-day sentences.

Harrison said that amounts to about $50,000 a month for Wake County.

He said he is not sure how his agency will absorb the impact of the loss of funding. The county is working with Harrison to find ways to make up the shortfall.

But Harrison said that letting prisoners out of jail early is not an option.

"We're going to put them in jail, and we're going to house them and we're going to do the best we can with what we got," Harrison said. "Are we going to have to cut somewhere else? Hopefully not. Hopefully, we'll find the money somewhere."

Meanwhile, Harrison said the cost of housing all inmates is increasing as their health care needs have increased dramatically.

The Wake County Detention Center houses as many as 1,400 inmates a day.

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Latest Comments

vaulter-- I suggest you read my comment again. Someone else said there was a weight room in the gym. I was merely asking where it was. Is there a site where we can check to see how much the administrators make? It be most interesting! As far as my ignorance, before I retired I worked at the Wake County jail. So just what is your job there? You must be one of those high paid "fat cat buddies" of the sheriff. One last question, just how fair can a sheriff be. He was dating a married woman! Fair sheriff with no morales.

superman
August 12, 2009 5:08 p.m.

Superman - you are just showing your obvious ignorance here (ie. your horrendous spelling of the word 'forfeiture' and speaking about this 'weight room'). There is no weight room in the Wake County Jail. And on top of all that, there are no 'fat cat' administrators in the jail, and certainly none of top administrators even come close to $100,000 in salary. Check your facts before you type please.

vaulter
August 12, 2009 4:04 p.m.

Good!

Professor
August 12, 2009 3:09 p.m.

except for you superman...Donnie Harrison is one of the best, just, and fair Sheriff's this county has ever had.

XARABELLE
August 12, 2009 1:55 p.m.

....and here we go with the corevette thing again....are you crazy? Think about it, using that Corvette costs them the same amount of money as a Crown Vic and/or Impala, BUT they didn't have to pay $35k for it! Quit with that lame excuse PLEASE! All you other people out there have some pretty good points though...and I must add, people should NEVER vote straight ticket in an election, old Bevy got freakin' lucky Obama ran for office if I do say so myself. She's useless!

XARABELLE
August 12, 2009 1:49 p.m.