Benton County officials are considering increasing the fee charged to cities to house inmates at the county jail.
The Quorum Court is to consider a proposed ordinance that would raise the fee to $40 per day from $32.50. It would be the first increase in nearly two decades.
Justice of the Peace Bobby Hubbard says county officials are looking for ways to trim $2.8 million from the budget over the next three years in anticipation of a smaller tax share following the 2010 census.
He says the county's cost to house an inmate is about $41 per day.
Jail officials say the facility houses between 450 and 500 inmates per day. It averaged about 150 per day a decade ago.
For more information see Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.