Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Christina Corpus, Sheriff
Subject: Annual Report on the Inmate Welfare Trust Fund
RECOMMENDATION:
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Accept the report on the Inmate Welfare Trust Fund for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.
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BACKGROUND:
California Penal Code 4025 provides for the administration of an Inmate Welfare Fund (IWF) and requires that an itemized report of IWF activity be submitted annually to the Board of Supervisors. The IWF may only be used primarily for the benefit, education, and welfare of incarcerated persons, and maintenance of correctional facilities. This includes the cost of operating programs to benefit incarcerated persons, including, but not limited to, education, drug and alcohol treatment, welfare, library, accounting, and other programs deemed appropriate by the Sheriff.
California Penal Code 4025 also provides that the Sheriff may operate a commissary in the jails, and that profits shall be deposited into the IWF. Additionally, any refund, rebate, or commission received from a telephone company for incarcerated persons use of telephones shall also be deposited into the IWF.
An independent financial audit of the Inmate Welfare Fund is completed annually.
DISCUSSION:
The Inmate Welfare Trust Fund Committee, formed by the Sheriff’s Office, is responsible for safeguarding the funds, controlling expenditures, and approving the annual budget. In July 2018, the Sheriff’s Office ceased collection of commissions from telephone services for the incarcerated population. In September 2018, the Sheriff’s Office entered into a contract with Keefe Commissary Network, LLC to provide commissary services for incarcerated persons in Maguire Correctional Facility and Maple Street Correctional Center. Additionally, as of June 27, 2020, the agreement with Keefe Commissary Network, LLC was amended to indicate that the Sheriff’s Office would no longer be compensated with commission payments related to commissary sales.
As of FY 2021-22 the Sheriff's Office is no longer generating revenue from sales and commission. Therefore, the Sheriff's Office is operating through the remainder of the IWF trust fund balance and will need a different revenue source to support the Inmate Welfare Program services beginning in FY 2023-24. The FY 2021-22 Inmate Welfare Trust Fund Report reflects $9,914 of interest earned. Disbursements total $492,157 and include all operating expenses. The difference between revenue and expenditures was a deficit of $482,243. This year-end operating deficit was added to the beginning fund balance, for a closing fund balance of $761,409, as of June 30, 2022.
The Sheriff’s Office is currently in the process of winding-down the Inmate Welfare Trust Fund as the Sheriff's Office will no longer be generating the commission revenues that supported the Fund.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with accepting the Inmate Welfare Trust Fund report.