SAGINAW — A Saginaw County leader has urged Sheriff William L. Federspiel to dip into a jail inmate trust fund to prevent the end of a remedial education program in a week.

County Commissioner Bregitte K. Braddock, D-Saginaw, has said Federspiel should consider using money from the $918,000 jail inmate trust fund to keep the General Education Degree program alive.

“As far as being part of the jail rehabilitation system, I think that goes real far,” Braddock said. “If a person has a GED ... I think they have a better shot at not returning” behind bars.

The money comes from commissary sales to inmates, and inmate-paid fees on cable television, telephone use, haircuts and Social Security funds drawn from prisoners who have to turn over their checks while jailed, said Undersheriff Robert X. Karl.

Federspiel said his department would look at the options, but he made no promises.

“We don’t normally pay for programs out of the inmate trust fund, but is it something we could do? Maybe,” Federspiel said. “We hate to see (the GED) program go by the wayside.”

Saginaw County wasn't in compliance with program guidelines that use federal funding to support the GED program, the Michigan Department of Education reported. The cash was meant for inmates up to 22 years old who have had interaction with the juvenile justice system.

The state notified the county it won’t pay for the education classes if the program doesn’t follow the rule. Jail officials have blamed confusion over guidelines that weren’t enforced until this year.
Federspiel said the state has no other grants available to keep the classes for inmates who don’t have a high school diploma..

“There’s no safety net for us,” he said.

A $16,635 contract with Bridgeport Township-based GED Training Inc. ends in seven days, officials have said. The agreement called for two teachers to receive $25 an hour to teach inmates this year.

Historically, the jail trust fund money is used to benefit the most inmates, Federspiel said. Among the areas of spending from the fund are inmate medical costs, retiring debt on a jail addition, a jail law library, security cameras, and furniture such as mattresses and tables. About $120,000 will be swept into a capital fund for projects, such as the upcoming replacement of cell locks at the 513-bed facility, the sheriff said.

“When you get that many people there you want to benefit the majority, not the minority,” Federspiel said.

About 100 inmates participate in GED coursework in any given year. The jail logs between 10,000 to 12,000 arrests a year, the sheriff said.

The jail has joined with the Saginaw Intermediate School District to ask the state for help. Under program guidelines those funds are restricted to classes for inmates 16 to 21 years old, Federspiel said. A GED would not be offered.