Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
HURLEY — The Iron County Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved a deal allowing Lac du Flambeau inmates to be incarcerated in the Iron County Jail.
“I’ve got room to house prisoners,” sheriff Tony Furyk told the board of supervisors’ finance committee in November when he first brought up the deal. “I certainly don’t want to refuse prisoners because it generates income here. I have an empty jail.”
According to the information presented at the finance committee meeting, the program would be funded through a grant obtained by the tribe.
The grant is for $48,000, of which Furyk said the county would receive $24,000 — $16,000 for housing the inmates, $4,000 for travel and $4,000 related to sharing information on illegal drugs.
The tribe would be responsible for transporting inmates and Furyk told the committee it was unlikely the county would incur additional costs, as it will stop accepting the inmates when the funding runs out.
Furyk reassured the committee the inmates accepted would all be serving sentences for low-level crimes and the county would retain the right to refuse any inmates.
The agreement lasts for one year.
It costs the county $45-a-day to house inmates, Furyk said.
