
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 16, 1990                   TAG: 9003162743
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GREENVILLE, MISS.                                 LENGTH: Short

EVENING INMATES' SUIT CHALLENGES JAIL CELL RENT

Eleven inmates who claim they were forced to pay $10 a day to rent their jail cells are seeking $2 million in damages in a federal suit.

"Tallahatchie County should not be running a hotel. Tallahatchie County should be running a jail," said Greenville attorney Victor McTeer, who filed the suit Tuesday in federal court against Tallahatchie County Sheriff Donald Strider and the board of supervisors.

McTeer said Wednesday the fee is charged daily.

But John Whitten Jr., an attorney for the county supervisors, said it is a one-time fee.

"It was my opinion . . . the charging of a $10 turnkey fee in a county as poor as Tallahatchie was, having trouble keeping our jails open, was not prohibited," Whitten said.

The suit seeks $2 million in punitive damages and $500 per inmate per day they were held. It also asks that a federal judge make the suit a class-action case so other inmates who have been forced to pay the fees also could seek damages.

"They charge $10 a day for each day of incarceration for people who haven't been convicted of any crime." McTeer said. "We say that's a violation of the Constitution."

State Auditor Pete Johnson said he recommended the collection be stopped two years ago. "There are no punitive directions that we can take other than to report that he is charging it without any authority," Johnson said.

by CNB