An ordinance introduced last week would exempt financially
needy inmates from the fee for security ankle bracelets as part of the Dane
County Jail?s electronic monitoring diversion program.

Dane County Supervisor Ashok Kumar, District 5, introduced
the ordinance in hopes of reversing the effects of a recent increase in fees
for wearing the global positioning system bracelets.

The electronic supervision program allows inmates to leave
the Dane County Jail for work, education or family care purposes, provided that
the inmates wear a GPS bracelet at all times.

According to Kumar, the program was designed to improve
inmate rehabilitation and reduce crime and has expanded dramatically over the
past two years, increasing from 50 inmates to more than 200. Inmates were
originally charged $15 per day for the use of the bracelets, but that charge
was recently increased to $20 per day.

“There is no beneficial value of keeping people in jail when they could be with their families or [working at] a job,” Kumar said. “[Charging the inmates ]is highly regressive and is taking money from the poor. Those that earn below the federal poverty line make less than $850 a month, and $600 of it would be going toward this program.”

Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney, a proponent of the new
bracelet plans, said the price increase covers the price Dane County pays for
the bracelets.

?[The price increase] also provides an additional buffet of
money that would fund bracelets that don?t make the cut-off point for having to
pay,? Mahoney said.

The proposal seeks to encourage inmates who would have taken
advantage of the electronic supervision but are unable to afford it because of
the bracelet?s cost.

Kumar said the increase takes nearly ?three out of every
four dollars from each inmate?s pocket,? adding that it?s a burden for people
?willing to get a job and better themselves.?

Inmates unable to afford an attorney or a public defender
are qualified to receive Federal Section 8 Housing Assistance. Inmates who are
parents or guardians also qualify for the fee exemption.

According to Kumar, the program actually helps raise revenue
for the jail.

Dane County makes $56 per day each time an inmate utilizes
the program, compared to the $10 per inmate per day it costs to administer the
program, Kumar said. Dane County Jail saves $3 million each year by not having
to house the inmates out on the GPS bracelet release program.

So far, the program has yet to aid an inmate under the
poverty line.

?Eighty-seven [inmates] are currently out on bracelets, none
of which who are indigent,? Mahoney said. ?So far, nobody has come forward out
of the current inmate population to indicate that they needed the indigence option.
But when the time comes, we are fully prepared to address the issue.?

The Public Protection and Judiciary Committee will discuss
the ordinance March 3. It will go through the Personal Finance Committee March
10, then back to the Dane County Board of Supervisors for a decision.