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Housing of inmates convicted of level 6 felonies in the county jail could mean hundreds of thousands of new dollars for the county thanks to legislation passed this year down at the Statehouse.
Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith told the County Council Tuesday, “We are able to now bill DOC (Department of Corrections) for level 6 felonies. That hasn’t always been the case, and a lot of it was dictated on how the language was from the judges when they sentenced these inmates. If they sentenced them to local time, then we weren’t eligible to bill them.”
A level 6 felony in Indiana is the lowest category of felony and is charged - depending on circumstances - on battery, domestic violence, hazing and criminal recklessness resulting in a serious injury or involving a deadly weapon, according to suhrelawindianapolis.com
Smith said Jail Commander Kevin Gelbaugh often reminds him that Kosciusko County has more level 6 felonies in the county jail than any other in the state. He said there’s nothing wrong with the way the judges are sentencing.
“I think their hearts are definitely in the right place. They need to be accountable. Rather than send them off to prison, we’ll try to do it here locally, but the way the language was before, we weren’t able to bill the DOC. With that new language change, we are,” Smith said.
That potentially could mean a half million dollars for Kosciusko County.
“We just sent our first invoice last month for a little over $40,000. That’s above and beyond the ones that we are already entitled to bill them for,” he said.
Jail Matron Michelle Hyden said for level 5 felonies for August 2024 through July 2025, that ranged from $3,562 to $18,337 a month. For July 2025, she said they billed the DOC for $5,418 for the level 5 felonies - which isn’t new - and an additional $46,704 for level 6 felonies, which is new.
The two felonies billed together total $52,122 for one month.
Smith said, “So, again, that’s going to be pretty consistent. I don’t think it will always be that exact amount, but it’s going to be somewhere around that range all throughout the year.”
Of course, he can’t make the DOC pay its bills but Smith said they will definitely invoice them. The state prison system exhausted its appropriation for jail payments earlier this year, which was addressed in state legislation, according to a June Indiana Capital Chronicle story.
“The per diem amount went up, starting in July as well, from $37.50 to a little over $40, so that’s helpful all on its own,” Smith said, noting when you throw the new legislation on top of that, the amount the county could receive may be significant. “So we’re excited about that.”
Council President Tony Ciriello said he knows the Indiana General Assembly put an extra $60 million in the DOC this last session to cover for things like billing for level 6 felonies and getting caught up on past due billings.
While the DOC still owes Kosciusko County money, Ciriello said they’re fortunate it’s not as much as is owed Marion County.
Smith said Kosciusko is owed still under $200,000, which is still a healthy amount.
“They have some work to do down there, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still money owed,” he said.
Ciriello reminded the council the billing to the DOC for the inmates does not go to the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department or Jail budget, but into the county general fund so it’s the county council’s money to deal with.
“It is going to be a pretty significant increase for us from the Department of Corrections to the county, as long as they pay the bill,” Ciriello said.
There are 305 beds in the jail. Smith said they’ve been seeing the number of inmates in the jail go up a little bit. They were under 200 inmates during the past winter, but that’s been going on.
“We pay attention to that every day,” Smith said.
