So I looked up what it actually costs to house an inmate in my county

Found out it's like $128 a day per person at our local jail in Harris County. That's nearly $47k a year just to keep someone locked up for a nonviolent drug charge. I was looking through their annual budget report online and the number blew my mind. What do yall think would be a better use of that money for actual rehab?

3 comments

3 Comments

leo_black7617d ago

I heard Texas spends way less per student than that. Something's broken.

aaron_perry17d ago

My buddy's kid in Austin shares a single textbook with three other kids.

the_fiona14d agoTop Commenter

Four kids sharing one book? That's ridiculous, my jaw actually dropped reading that. I remember in my daughter's middle school in Portland, they had enough textbooks for each kid but they were falling apart, missing whole chapters and stuff. Sharing one book between four students means someone is always behind on reading, probably the kid who doesn't push their way to the front. Texas has a massive budget surplus, right? It's not like they can't afford more books, it just feels like a choice to leave schools underfunded. Can't learn math or history when you're fighting over page numbers like it's a library with only one copy.