Uintah County Sheriff Steve Labrum gave a report on housing inmates and the revenue potential during Monday’s County Commission meeting. Sheriff Labrum stated that among the inmates in the Uintah County Jail there are 114 state prisoners. Uintah County gets paid just over $60 a day per state inmate which amounts to an annual revenue of over $2.5 million dollars. While that is helpful, it is less than were housed before the COVID pandemic. Sheriff Labrum also explained that he has been in talks of contracting federal inmates which has great revenue potential at $90 dollars per inmate but which hasn’t been an option because of the General Obligation Bonds against the facility. This hiccup will soon be resolved, however, as the Uintah County Commission took action during Monday’s meeting to set aside the funds needed to pay off the General Obligation Bonds. “The early payment of the Bonds will positively impact the financial operation of the Uintah County Correctional Facility,” shared the Uintah County Commission after Monday’s meeting. “Due to restrictions related to the Bonds, the Correctional Facility is severely limited in the number of Federal Inmates that can be held by the Facility. With the payment of the Bonds, these restrictions on Federal Inmates are removed. The daily rate received for housing Federal Inmates is significantly greater than the rate for other inmates.”
