Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
127 th General Assembly of Ohio
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BILL: |
DATE: |
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STATUS: |
SPONSOR: |
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LOCAL IMPACT
STATEMENT REQUIRED: |
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No
direct fiscal effect on the state.
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LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2008 – FUTURE YEARS |
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Certain Counties (those
opting to assist federal officials with civil violations of federal
immigration law) |
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Revenues |
Potential annual gain in
federal contract payments for housing certain federal prisoners |
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Expenditures |
(1)
Potential annual increase for sheriff to render assistance to federal
immigration officials; (2) Potential annual
increase to house certain federal prisoners, offset wholly or in part by
federal contract payments |
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Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
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Jails. County sheriffs are, subject to
authorization by the board of county commissioners, currently able to accept
federal prisoners for criminal violations of federal immigration law, and are
generally choosing not to do so because of cost and capacity concerns. Assuming these conditions remain the same,
it seems unlikely that, as a result of the bill, many county sheriffs would
receive federal prisoners who commit violations of
federal immigration law or that their respective boards of county commissioners
would authorize the sheriff to do so.
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County sheriffs generally. The bill permits a county sheriff to render assistance to federal
immigration officials related to: (1)
the investigation, apprehension, and detection of persons who violate civil
provisions of federal immigration law, and (2) the investigation of businesses
suspected of employing aliens who violate criminal or civil provisions of
federal immigration law. Based on a
conversation with the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association, it seems likely that
county sheriffs generally would not expend their limited resources (time,
moneys, and people) in rendering assistance to federal immigration officials in
such matters on an ongoing basis, but might do so selectively subject to the
circumstances present.
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Overview of the bill
For purposes of
this fiscal analysis, the bill most notably:
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Permits a county sheriff, at the direction of the board of county
commissioners, to render assistance to federal immigration officials in matters
related to the investigation, apprehension, detection, and detention of persons
who violate civil violations of federal immigration law.
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Permits a county sheriff to render assistance to federal immigration
officials related to the investigation of businesses suspected of employing
aliens who violate criminal or civil provisions of federal immigration law.
Local fiscal effects
According to an Ohio
Attorney General Opinion (No. 2007-018), Ohio law generally authorizes a county
sheriff to preserve the public peace as it applies to the enforcement of
criminal federal immigration laws, including receiving prisoners into custody,
but has not been construed to apply to the enforcement of civil federal
immigration laws. The bill gives the board of county commissioners authority to contract
with the federal government for the county sheriff to receive into custody
persons being detained for deportation or charged with a civil violation of
federal immigration law.
Jails
LSC fiscal staff contacted
several sheriffs' departments to determine how their respective counties were
using existing authority relative to the enforcement of criminal federal
immigration laws, in particular receiving prisoners into custody. Most of the sheriffs' personnel contacted by
LSC fiscal staff stated that their respective counties were not currently
accepting any federal prisoners, though several had done so in the past; of
those contacted, Franklin County was the only jurisdiction currently receiving
federal prisoners into custody.
Based on LSC fiscal staff's
research to date, some of the reasons that county sheriffs generally are not
receiving federal prisoners into custody can be summarized as follows:
·
Reimbursement rate. The per diem reimbursement
rate for federal prisoners is lower, significantly so in some local
jurisdictions, in comparison to the sheriff's average daily incarceration
cost. According to information provided
by the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association, the per diem cost for county jails
in Ohio runs in the approximate range of $58 to $140. This results in a situation where it can actually cost the county
more money for the sheriff to receive federal prisoners into custody than it
receives in federal reimbursement payments.
As an example, Franklin County's current average daily incarceration
cost is $70 and the daily federal reimbursement rate for prisoners received
into Franklin County's custody is $60 (a relatively recent increase from
$48.77). Most of the counties contacted
by LSC fiscal staff indicated that it was this type of cost disparity that
caused the termination of contracts for housing federal prisoners in relation
to violations of federal criminal laws.
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Timing of reimbursement payments. It appears that the timing of federal reimbursement payments was
somewhat uncertain and therefore problematic from a budgeting perspective.
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Available bed space. Generally, Ohio's jails, in
particular what are termed full-service jails, are housing more than the
state's recommended prisoner capacity.
This suggests that certain counties simply may not have enough excess
beds to contract for the housing of federal prisoners.
As noted, county sheriffs
are, subject to authorization by the board of county commissioners, currently
able to accept federal prisoners for criminal violations of federal immigration
law, and are generally choosing not to do so because of cost and capacity
concerns. Assuming these conditions remain the same, it seems unlikely that, as
a result of the bill, many county sheriffs would receive federal prisoners who commit civil violations of federal immigration law or
that their respective boards of county commissioners would authorize the
sheriff to do so.
County
sheriffs
The bill permits a county
sheriff to render assistance to federal immigration officials related to: (1) the investigation, apprehension, and
detection of persons who violate civil provision of federal immigration law,
and (2) the investigation of businesses suspected of employing aliens who
violate criminal or civil provisions of federal immigration law. Based on a conversation with the Buckeye
State Sheriffs' Association, it seems likely that county sheriffs generally
would not expend their limited resources (time, moneys, and people) in
rendering assistance to federal immigration officials in such matters on an
ongoing basis, but might do so selectively subject to the circumstances
present.
State fiscal effects
The bill has no readily
discernible fiscal implications for state revenues or expenditures.
LSC fiscal staff: Matthew L. Stiffler, Budget Analyst