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Weber County says it will stop charging inmates $10 a day

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Weber County jail will stop charging inmates $10 a day to help pay the cost of incarcerating them.

Ogden • The Weber County jail will stop charging inmates $10 a day to help pay the cost of incarcerating them.

The Standard-Examiner reports the practice will end Aug. 1. Officials say none of the current debts will be forgiven.

Corrections spokesman Lt. Joshua Marigoni says the jail wants to keep inmates out of debt when they're released. He also says billing under the "pay-to-stay" program isn't worth the work, and it hurts the county's ability to get federal grants to help inmates.

Marigoni says the sheriff's office billed inmates for $1.6 million in 2018 but collected only $55,000.

A 2007 state law allows county jails to pass on some inmate housing costs.

Davis County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Susan Poulsen says her agency dropped the program about five years ago.