Philadelphia Considers Booking Fees
February 19th, 2009
Seeking ways to raise revenue, Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Louis Giorla floated a proposal yesterday to charge criminals money to get in to city jails.
One previous study found Philadelphia inmates had an average of $35 on hand during the intake process, Giorla said. Acknowledging that many offenders wouldn’t be able to pay, he estimated the so-called admission fee would generate $300,000 a year …
[T]he admission-fee proposal [was] discussed during the second of three PhillyStat meetings that Mayor Nutter is holding to focus on the spending plans of specific city departments as his administration grapples with closing a $1 billion budget gap in the next five years.