County officials went to Frankfort yesterday to ask once again for help funding their local jails.

It's a perennial problem that's growing more costly and immediate due to inflation.

As our June LaFleur reports and our legislative update, some state lawmakers say it's time to make a change.

County jails are saddled with the responsibility of housing alleged and convicted offenders, all while having almost no say in the number of inmates that come in or the price to keep them alive and well.

Four years ago, we had a gentleman that, tried to burn his mother in law up, inside her house, and he actually paid someone to do it, but he was on, dialysis.

And so we were paying $28,000 a week to, Baptist Hospital to take him to get dialysis.

And I don't take too long at $28,000 a week.

Before we start, getting in some financial trouble across the board, medical expenses are on the rise, says the Kentucky Association of Counties or Co.

This has become one of the most talked about, expenses, in the jail room.

I know, we had one judge at one point that said, I wish the state would come and take all of the state inmates because the medical is so expensive.

It is about to break me.

Jail expenses as a whole have gone up, and that means local governments are spending more of their tax dollars to keep the jails running.

That leads to tough choices.

We have to look at cutting services, vital services to our other constituents that really deserve this money.

And, see that or raise taxes and which is very unpopular.

County governments are responsible for misdemeanor offenders and pretrial felony detainees on their dime, but county jails also house state inmates, those with certain felony convictions.

The state reimburses the jail $35 a day for each state inmate.

But this lawmaker says the state can do more.

Bill I proposed a few years ago would have done this.

So if you are a county and you have misdemeanor, inmates, you're responsible for those.

When somebody is is convicted of a felony, they then become the state's responsibility.

What my bill would have done a few years ago would have said that if you are convicted of a felony, then the state will pick up the tab for the pre felony conviction time, which would have been a major transfer of funding to those county jails for what is truly a state responsibility, which is the housing of those felony inmates.

The Kentucky General Assembly increased the inmate per diem three years ago by $4.

A report from the Kentucky Association of Counties says the rate would need to be $12 higher to keep up with inflation.

For Kentucky edition, I'm June Leffler.