OTTUMWA, IOWA -- For Tuesday's Facebook Story of the Day, you wanted to know if inmates incarcerated in county jails have to pay room and board fees.
In Iowa and Wapello County, the answer is yes. Any inmate that is serving time and not awaiting sentencing or a disposition must pay a fee of $25 per day.
The fee is set by the sheriff and varies from county to county.
"I think we're probably one of the lowest in the state at 25 [dollars]," said Jeremy Weller, Wapello County Jail Administrator. "Some places, if a person is sent and they're able to go out on work release, they charge them an extra fee for that, we don't do that, we're just a flat 25 per day that we build in for that."
The only other charge an inmate would incur is covering their own medical expenses, which is standard in most county jails.
The collected fees from each inmate go back into a general fund to help with jail upkeep.
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