Sheriff: State Budget Cuts Cost County Jail Nearly $2 Million

Mecklenburg County's sheriff said the new state budget will cost his jail system nearly $2 million.

Sheriff Chipp Bailey said the new budget cuts out a stipend that compensates county jails for housing state inmates. That stipend is $18 per day per inmate.

Bailey said that equates to $1.8 million each year.

He said now he still has the responsibility of the state inmates, but none of the funding.

"It is money that we didn't think was going to get cut,” Bailey said. “We had cuts like everybody else did (in the spring). Now we've got to figure out what to do without the $1.8 million coming in revenue."

Eyewitness News called County Manager Harry Jones and Gov. Bev Perdue to ask their response to the budget cuts but those calls have not been returned.