§ 20-619 — FEE FOR MEDICAL SERVICE

(1) County sheriff departments administering county jails may charge a nominal fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) to any nonindigent inmate who has sufficient funds in his commissary or personal account for the purpose of seeing the jail provided doctor or nurse for a medical complaint. In the event that an inmate is indigent, such service shall be provided by the county at no cost.
(2) The county sheriff departments administering county jails may charge actual costs to any nonindigent inmate who has sufficient funds in his commissary or personal account for pharmaceuticals prescribed or authorized by jail medical staff.
(3) A "nonindigent" inmate, for purposes of this section, is an inmate who has money in his commissary or personal account normally used for the purchase of personal items for the inmate.
(4) All debts incurred pursuant to this section may be collected from the inmate’s commissary or personal account, in whole or in part, at any time during the period of incarceration, whenever moneys exist in or are placed into the inmate’s commissary or personal account, provided that the jail has in place a process by which the affected inmate may contest the assessment of moneys owed. Collection of moneys owed may occur at any time, in whole or in part, until such time as the full balance of the moneys owed is completely retired, provided that there shall be no further efforts to collect the debt after four (4) years from the date in which the debt was actually incurred.
(5) The county sheriff may require the inmate to provide health insurance information including, but not limited to, group, plan and identification numbers. The county sheriff is authorized to submit medical costs to the inmate’s health insurance company on behalf of the inmate.

Legislative History

[20-619, added 1994, ch. 213, sec. 1, p. 672; am. 2001, ch. 50, sec. 1, p. 92; am. 2005, ch. 181, sec. 2, p. 556.]