County benefits from its federal prisoners

Cape Girardeau County's new $8 million jail promises to be a money-maker for the county for at least the next 15 years because of the many federal prisoners it will hold.

The jail, formally called the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office and Justice Center, opened at Jackson in March. It held an average 33 federal prisoners per day through November.

The $50.82 per day per prisoner paid by the U.S. Marshals Service translated to total payments of $448,000 to the county through November. At that rate the county can expect to receive at least $612,426 annually for housing federal prisoners, and that is more than enough to pay the $450,000 per year in construction bonds.

The federal payments are likely to go up. Under a 15-year contract with the Marshals Service, the county must provide as many as 42 beds for federal prisoners when needed, and the service guarantees it will house on average at least 33 prisoners a day in the jail. That already has proved a lucrative guarantee, but it could become even more lucrative considering the county would get $500 more per day each day that 42 federal prisoners are held. Holding 42 federal prisoners a day would generate $779,000 a year for the county.

With it costing the county $2.5 million a year to operate the jail and sheriff's office, it's no wonder Sheriff John Jordan says he would like to hold more federal prisoners.

He likely will get his wish. The Immigration and Naturalization Service, which has stepped up deportation efforts since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has expressed interest in housing INS detainees in the jail at the same daily fee paid by the Marshals Service. And further into the future, when a new federal courthouse is built in Cape Girardeau to replace the Federal Building, the county can expect to hold more federal prisoners awaiting federal court appearances.

The federal government needs the prison space because federal court is held in Cape Girardeau and the Marshals Service needs somewhere to hold prisoners going to court.

That is fortunate for Cape Girardeau County, which can now let the federal government's prisoner costs help pay for its construction and defray costs of its operation.