Legislative Alert – State Inmates

IAC Priority Legislation on State Inmate Jail Reimbursements to be Heard Tuesday

On Tuesday, February 17th at 1:30pm MST/12:30pm PST, the House Judiciary and Rules Committee will have under consideration House Bill 556. House Bill 556 proposes increasing the daily reimbursement rate paid by the Idaho Department of Corrections to counties for housing state-committed inmates in county jails. Currently, IDOC reimburses counties at a rate of $55 a day for the first seven days a state-committed inmate is in county custody and $75 a day for each day after the first seven days. House Bill 556 is sponsored by Representative Bruce Skaug and is one of IAC’s top legislative priorities.

Quick Facts on State-Committed Inmates in County Jails

• As of December 2025 there were 1,275 state-committed inmates in county jails
• The average length of stay for a state-committed inmate in county jails is 85 days
• State-committed inmates are overcrowding county jails (25% of county jails were at capacity last year), increasing the strain on county sheriffs to maintain and operate county jails and creating greater legal liability for county property taxpayers
• On average, a county pays $114.25 per day (including jail medical) to house a state-committed inmate
• Excluding jail medical, the cost is $106.37 per day
• IDOC pays over $85 per day to house inmates out of state, but only pays counties a maximum of $75 per day to house those same inmates
• Counties spend an average of $49.5 million a year to house state-committed inmates but only receive $34.1 million a year from IDOC to house those inmates
• County property tax payers must pay over $15 million a year to make up the difference

Call to Action

Please reach out to members of the House Judiciary and Rules Committee as soon as possible and urge them to vote yes on House Bill 556. A yes vote on House Bill 556 will reduce the cost to county taxpayers to house state-committed inmates and allow county sheriffs to more safely and effectively maintain and operate county jails. The names and email addresses of committee members can be found below.