Budget Arizona Department Of Corrections

Arizona Prisons Charge $25 Fee to Visit Inmates

Baldo added that the department needs about $ 150 million in building renewal and maintenance funds, a project that was previously mixed side because of budget problems.

Although Barrett Marson, a spokesman for the Prison Service, told the newspaper there are no complaints from inmates about the new policy at this point, some groups are the rights of prisoners, denouncing what they say is an excessive burden .

David C.Fathi, director of the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the charge "staggering" and said she could potentially have a negative impact on public safety if it prevents some prisoners to receive visitors.

"We know that one of the best things you can do if you want people to go straight and live a law-abiding lives when they leave prison is to continue to contact the family while they are in prison, "he said the source.

Prison reform in the Middle floor, a group based in Tempe, has filed a lawsuit against the Corrections Department last month, saying the $ 25 fee is a ploy to raise funds for general corporate purposes. The group also alleged that the fee is unconstitutional because it is essentially a special tax on one group of people.

It may also be some hiccups in the system that may encourage people to spend exorbitant amounts of money for the clearance of visitors. A woman, who asked to have his name is omitted, said she paid the fee - $ 100 for 4 different visitors - through Western Union, but was unable to get the system to work.While United Parcel Service has confirmed that his order had been delivered, the Department of Correction has never received, resulting in sending additional months to pay $ 100 after starting the application process.

Arizona is far from the only state facing budget deficits in its prison system. Once a staple of Corrections, the Religious News Service reports that prison chaplains are becoming a victim of huge budget cuts and staff that the different states look for ways to save their pennies.States like North Carolina - home to one of the largest inmate populations in the nation - has been forced to cut $ 250 million of its Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, resulting in significant reductions in their education, training vocational and substance abuse programs.

The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog: AZ: $25 visiting fee at state prisons!

For the Department of Corrections Arizona, crime has finally begun to pay.

A new law allows the department to charge $ 25 for adults wishing to visit inmates at one of 15 prisons that prisoners State House. The only time "cost of background checks" for visitors, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, has angered rights groups for prisoners and family members of detainees, who in many cases already shoulder at the expense of traveling long distances to remote areas where many prisons are located.

David C.Fathi, director of the National Prisons of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the charge "staggering" and said that while it was ostensibly designed to help the state - the money will be used to repair and maintain prisons - it could ultimately have a negative effect on public safety.

"We know that one of the best things you can do if you want people to go straight and live a law-abiding lives when they leave prison is to continue to contact the family while they are in prison, "he said." Talk about penny wise and pound-foolish."

A woman whose brother is a prisoner Eyman Complex in Florence, said most of his family lives out of state, so the price is an additional burden on top of the tour price.

"What happens is that people will simply stop visiting," said the woman, adding that most of the prisoners "live" visits from relatives. Because some family friends still do not know of the imprisonment of her brother, she asked to be identified only by his first name, Shauna. She was one of dozens of family members of inmates who complained to the prison reform in the Middle floor, a group based in Tempe, on fees.

In a complaint filed last month against the prison administration, Middle Ground said the fee was simply a pretext to raise funds "for general public" and as such was unconstitutional because it amounted to a special tax on one group.

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