PICKENS LOSING REVENUE FROM FEDERAL INMATES

ALICEVILLE - Pickens County, which has reaped nearly $700,000 in less
than two years by housing federal prisoners, will take a major
financial hit when those inmates are moved out of its jail in
Carrollton. The revenue lost will be a blow to a county trying to pay
off more than $3 million in debt. Commissioners say they aren't likely
to seek any tax or fee increases to make up the difference.

Pickens County Sheriff David Abston said Chester Keely, U.S. marshal
for the northern district of Alabama, told him that costs were too
great to transport prisoners between Birmingham and Carrollton. It was
also costly to pay court-appointed attorneys to drive the 110 miles
between the two cities to visit their clients.

"They just told us it was a business decision," Abston said. The
county had a non-binding contract with the U.S. marshals to house 20
prisoners, but often kept more at times. Most of the prisoners were in
jail for non-violent crimes such as drug possession or identity theft.
County Administrator Cheryl Gary said the county anticipated $274,000
in revenue from the prisoners. In 2004, the county got $625,000 in
revenue from housing federal prisoners.

The county built a new jail in 1998 at a cost of $3.1 million after a
federal judge ruled that the old jail was unfit. The order buried
Pickens County under a $4.5 million debt, which has been whittled down
to about $3 million since 1998.

Abston said he's trying to strike a deal for more prisoners with the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, which has said the jail
doesn't yet meet the standards for long-term housing of INS prisoners.
The jail will need an interpreter and a better library and medical
facility.