The United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the entire world since 2002. The state of Texas currently leads the U.S. in incarceration growth imprisoning the greatest number of people in the nation.
Not only is the number of people incarcerated in prison high, but so is the amount taxpayers within Texas pay for inmates every day.
Texas is one of six states where 20 to 34 percent of the total taxpayers cost for prison costs were over the corrections department budget. Prison costs that were outside the correction’s budget fall under three categories including administrative purposes, inmate services and underfunded pensions and retiree health care plans.
Randall County Jail houses an average of 373 inmates today. It currently costs taxpayers around $65 per day per inmate. Randall County Sheriff, Joel Richardson states that the daily inmate cost mostly covers the jail staff, as well as the inmates’ housing, clothes, meals, basic medical care and other necessities
