Carroll County Sheriff Tony Burns, who took office Jan. 1, 2007, is still learning some of the intricacies of running a jail in the most efficient and costeffective manner. A lesson learned last fall is now paying off for the county.

Burns said months ago he asked jailers a question about why the Indiana Department of Correction (DOC) would pay to house a DOC transition prisoner. Burns explained that a transition prisoner is one who has been released from prison into the community to finish serving a sentence to become ready to leave DOC altogether. Burns said the county jail is not considered official DOC housing.

He asked jail commander Lori Sustarsic to learn the DOC rules about reimbursement for the service. Sustarsic discovered that the county could have claimed payment for former prisoners and did not. She said the last claim presented to DOC from Carroll County was in 2001.

DOC allowed the sheriffs department to claim for reimbursement from 2002 to present. Burns directed jailers Sustarsic and Jon Randle to research the records of each prisoner during the stated time frame and make the appropriate claim.

Sustarsic said the project took two to three months to gather the data from at least 500 files. The goal was to begin the claims by the end of 2007 and that goal was met.

Jail staff submitted 2007 claims first and then began submission of claims year-byyear until finished. DOC reviews each claim, makes corrections and then issues a check for an amount determined to be correct. The amount reimbursed to the county, which was for 2007, was $32,550 after claims received totaled $29,330. Reimbursement for 2002 was $21,000 although claims totaled $22,085. DOC reimbursed $14,805 for 2003 so far, but is reviewing claims for that year that total $24,850.

However, the outstanding claims yet to be paid could be the "pot of gold" for the county during a time when every cent counts. The total reimbursement requested from DOC for years 2004 through 2006 is $151,200. Sustarsic said 2008 claims for $26,110 have been submitted in a timely fashion, however no money has been received.

"It is a blessing to us," Burns said. "It couldn't have come at a better time."

"We knew we could do it," Sustarsic said. "We realized it would bring a lot of money for the county and we hoped we could help the jail."

"Right now, none of this comes back to us at the jail," Burns added. "At some point I'd like to get some portion dedicated to the jail and inmate needs."

"We're glad we were able to do something positive for the county right now," Surstarsic concluded.