31-121. Duty of sheriff to receive and provide
for prisoners; contracts for furnishing food; city or town
prisoners; employment; canteens; special services fund; insurance;
education programs
A. The sheriff shall receive all persons who are committed to jail by competent
authority and provide them with necessary food, clothing and bedding, the cost of which
shall be a county charge or, if a county jail district has been established, a charge of
the district, except as otherwise provided by law.
B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, the sheriff may establish
procedures to recover from the inmate the cost of providing the inmate with necessary
food. The cost to the inmate shall not exceed two dollars per day. All meal costs
recovered from the inmate shall be used for meal preparation or to improve meal quality.
C. The county board of supervisors or board of directors of a county jail district
may enter into contracts for furnishing food for persons who are confined in the county
jail, but a contract shall not be made for a period longer than one year.
D. A person who is arrested by a peace officer employed by a city or town and who
is charged in a municipal court as defined in section 22-401 may be housed in a county
jail. The costs of this incarceration shall be paid by the city or town that established
the municipal court in which the charges are to be filed. A person who is convicted in a
municipal court may be sentenced to a county jail. The costs of this incarceration shall
be paid by the city or town that established the municipal court in which the sentence
was rendered. A person who is arrested by a peace officer employed by a city or town and
who is charged in the superior court or a justice court may be housed in a county
jail. The costs of this incarceration are a county expense. Two or more cities, towns
or counties may enter into agreements with one another for joint or cooperative action
pursuant to section 11-952.
E. Notwithstanding subsection D of this section, the cost for providing for
prisoners committed to the county jail by competent authority of the county or any
political subdivision in the county shall be borne by the county jail district in any
county in which such district, pursuant to title 48, chapter 25, is established and
operating.
F. Any prisoner who is accepted by the county jail may be employed as provided by
section 31-141.
G. At the discretion of the board of supervisors or board of directors of a county
jail district, the sheriff may maintain a canteen pursuant to this subsection at any jail
facility under the sheriff's jurisdiction to sell to confined persons toilet articles,
candy, tobacco products, notions and other sundries and may provide the necessary
facilities, equipment, personnel and merchandise. The sheriff shall specify the
commodities to be sold in the canteen. The sheriff shall fix the prices of the
commodities at such amounts as will, as far as possible, render each canteen
self-supporting.
H. A special services fund is established in the office of the county
treasurer. The sheriff shall deposit any canteen and charge-a-call telephone profits, if
such become available, in the special services fund. All profits resulting from inmate
services shall also be deposited in the special services fund. The board of supervisors
may insure against the damage or loss of canteen materials, supplies and equipment that
are owned by the county jail facility.
I. The sheriff shall hold in trust all special services fund monies for the benefit
and welfare of inmates. These monies may be used for the education and welfare of
inmates, including the establishment, maintenance and purchase of items for resale and
other necessary expenses incurred in operating the canteens.
J. The county board of supervisors or board of directors of a county jail district
may authorize a biennial audit of the canteen operations at any jail facility referred to
in this section. At the end of each intervening fiscal year, the jail administration
shall prepare a statement of operations. At least one copy of any audit report or
statement of operations shall be posted both at the canteen and for inmates at designated
areas.
K. Each county that operates a county jail shall offer an education program to
serve all prisoners who are under eighteen years of age and prisoners who are pupils with
disabilities, who are twenty-one years of age or younger and who are confined in the
county jail. The county sheriff and the county school superintendent shall agree on the
method of delivery of the education program.
L. This section does not prohibit a city or town from recovering incarceration
costs pursuant to section 13-804.01.
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