Updated: 11/29/2009 10:27:22 PM
An East Tennessee jail is seeing the number of federal inmates kept there shrinking, resulting in falling revenues for the facility.
The Daily Times reports that the Blount County Jail has about half the number of federal inmates from a year ago, leaving the jail with a budget challenges.
Sheriff James Berrong says the jail currently has 91 federal inmates, down from 180 a year ago. The U.S. Marshals Service pays Blount County $58.50 per inmate per day. County Finance Director Dave Bennett says the drop in inmates will cost the county between $1.5 and $2 million this year.
