(a) Any person convicted of an offense and who is confined in a workhouse, prison, station house, City jail or County jail (hereinafter referred to collectively or individually as "place of confinement") shall reimburse the City for its expenses incurred by reason of such confinement including, but not limited to, the expenses relating to the provision of food, clothing, shelter, medical care, personal hygiene products and up to two hours of overtime costs to the City relating to the trial of the person.
(b) The prison or station house administrator may appoint a reimbursement coordinator to administer the prisoner reimbursement policy. The prisoner reimbursement policy hereby adopted requires a person confined to a place of confinement to reimburse the City for any expenses it incurs by reason of the person's confinement, which expenses include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) A per diem fee for room and board of not more than sixty dollars ($60.00) per day or the actual per diem cost, whichever is less, for the entire period of time the person is confined to the place of confinement;
(2) Actual charges for medical and dental treatment;
(3) Reimbursement for Municipal property damaged by the person while confined to the place of confinement.
Rates charged shall be on a sliding scale based on the ability of the person confined to pay and on consideration of any legal obligation of the person to support a spouse, minor children or other dependents and any moral obligation to support dependents to whom the person is providing or has in fact provided support.
The reimbursement coordinator or another appointed person may investigate the financial status of the confined person and obtain information necessary to investigate that status, by means that may include contacting employers and reviewing income tax records. The coordinator may work with the confined person to create a repayment plan to be implemented upon the person's release. At the end of the person's incarceration, the person shall be presented with a billing statement.
The reimbursement coordinator or another appointed person may collect, or City Council may enter into a contract with one or more public agencies or private vendors to collect, any amounts remaining unpaid. Within twelve months after the date of the confined person's release, the City Solicitor, or other attorney for the Municipal corporation, may file a civil action to seek reimbursement from that person for any billing amount that remains unpaid. If it is deemed in the best interest of the City, the City Solicitor is authorized to compromise and settle such claim in an amount less than the total reimbursement due to the City. If an offender does not comply with the reimbursement determination for expenses of confinement made by the Court, then the convict is deemed to be acting in bad faith, vexatiously, wantonly, and obdurately, and in any civil action on behalf of the City to recover from the convict the reimbursement for expenses of his or her confinement, the City Solicitor or his or her representative shall request an award of attorney fees as part of the costs of the proceedings. The award of such attorney fees shall be paid into the General Fund of the City Treasury. The Municipal corporation shall not enforce any judgment obtained under this section by means of execution against the person's homestead. For purposes of this section, "homestead" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 323.151(A). Any reimbursement received under this section shall be credited to the General Fund of the City, the expense to be used for General Fund purposes.
(c) Notwithstanding any contrary provision in this section or Ohio R.C. 2929.18 or 2929.223, a person who is not indigent and who is confined must pay a reasonable fee for any medical treatment or service requested by and provided to that person. This fee shall not exceed the actual cost of the treatment or service provided. No person confined to a place of confinement who is indigent shall be required to pay such fees, and no person confined shall be denied any necessary medical care because of inability to pay such fees.
Upon provision of the requested medical treatment or service, payment of the required fee shall be automatically deducted from the person's account record in the place of confinement's business office. If the person has no funds in the person's account, a deduction will be made at a later date during the person's confinement in the place of confinement if funds later become available in the person's account. If the person is released from the place of confinement and has an unpaid balance of such fees, the City will bill the person for payment of the remaining unpaid fees. Fees received for medical treatment or services shall be paid into a commissary fund, if one has been created for the place of confinement, or, if no such fund exists, into the General Fund.
(d) If a person who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense is sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a place of confinement, or if a person who has been arrested for an offense and who has been denied bail or has had bail set and has not been released on bail is confined in a place of confinement pending trial, at the time of reception and at other times that the person in charge of the operation of the place of confinement determines to be appropriate, the person in charge of the operation of the place of confinement may cause the convicted or accused offender to be examined and tested for tuberculosis, HIV infection, hepatitis (including, but not limited to, hepatitis A, B, and C) and other contagious diseases. The person in charge of the operation of the place of confinement may cause a convicted or accused offender who refuses to be tested or treated for tuberculosis, HIV infection, hepatitis (including, but not limited to, hepatitis A, B, and C) or another contagious disease to be tested and treated involuntarily.
(Ord. 2608. Passed 6-22-98.)