Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-28
THE COUNTY'S PRISONERS.
WHAT 1T COSTS TO TAKE CARE
OF THEM.

A Remarkable Reduction In the &
penses of the Jail and Chain GrAng-
The Management of the Jail Under
the City and County ReGiTAe-FaCts
for Taxpayers to LoOb at.
At the close of the present month it win
have been a year sinc's the control OF the
Jail passed from the hands of the city into
those OF the County Commissioners.
While the figures as to the cost Of rum
ming the institU ton during 1884 are not
complete, end cannot be secured
until the close of the month, still
enough can be gathered to show the eco
nomical nature of the management. A
remarkable reduction has been made in
the expenses attending the confinement
of the county and city criminals, while
at the same time an improvement OF a
marked character has taken place looking
to the comfort of those confined within its
walls. The cells and corridors are now
heated throughout. Cots have been pro-
Vided for the prisoners, and necessary
repairs have been made.
! When the city had control Of the Jail
the County Commissioners had but little
| to do with 1t, except to pay for feeding
/ the prisoners and fee of 60 cents for the
! admission of a prisoner and so cents for
! his discharge. The charge made to the
| county by the city for feeding the prison
ers was sc cents per capita per day.
! Under the change the county took en-
! tire charge of the institution. All
prisoners, whether from the city or be-
yOnd its borders were considered county
prisoners, and the county, instead of pay
ing the board of its prisoners, paid the en-
tire running expenses of the jail. That it
has prOfited by the new departure is
clearly shown by the result of the year
now nearly ended.
Without reference to the accounts Of
the city Tor 1888 to show what the entire
expenses of the Jail were for that year, the
following facts and figures are given as
taken from the books in the County Com
missIOners' office: In 1888 the county
paid to the city for maintenance Of it's
prisoners the sum Of &c., 95 81.
The expenses of the Jail under the
county management will be much less
than that. The figures given below may
vary when all the bills for the present
month come in, but they are carefully esti-
mated and the. variance will be
inconsiderable. The total cost will
be about SLIGO So for the entire
running expenses, or $2,935 03 less than
was paid the preceding year for the board
of county prisoners alone. OF this amount
| $7S6 were paid for supplies, $273 go for
repairs, including window sashes, ETC.,
| $1,313 for provisions, $9OS 40 for medicines,
fuel, blankets, cots, ETC., and So, 500 So for
the salaries of the Jailer, guards, etc. In
! justice, the money received for the board
of United States prisoners, amounting to
| S247 20, must be deducted from this total
of $716 So, which leaves as the total cost
| $6,913 IS.
Allusion has been made to the fact
that the county heretofore has paid so
cents per day for the board
of prisoners. The average cost to the
county of feeding the prisoners during the
past year has been 81 cents per day, edit
ference in cost of just 401s cents per day.
Tne following table shows the average
month, and the average number of pris-
| oners in Jail during the months named,
! from March to November inclusive: