The Courier of Montgomery County reports that Montgomery County’s new budget prescription costs will increase, driving County Commissioners to add $300,000 to take care of medications for jail inmates.
According to Sheriff Rand Henderson, a transitional jail population along with costs makes it hard to budget for medications.
A $419 million dollar budget was okayed this month by the commissioners court, along with a tax rate of 36.96 per $100 valuation. The sheriff’s new budget is the highest rise in funds. In 2023, the office’s budget was $104.6 million, increasing in the new budget $7 million to $113.1 million.
The sheriff said the treatment of inmates with AIDS in the jail is “costly.” He passed along that it costs $10,000 a month to treat an inmate with the condition. He added that there were 20 inmates in the jail with AIDS recently.
The sheriff also said a common occurrence among inmates is that they suffer from “mental health disorders.” To treat those mental issues, about 30 percent of the inmates are on medication.
County Budget Officer Amanda Carter passed along that in 2023 the county budgeted $125,000 for medication, but recently $339,216 has been spent for medication by the county.
Nurses in the jail are charged with administering the medications.
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