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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The state wants prisoners who have been moved to county jails to still get treatment for things like drug addiction.
But corrections officials need to find a way to pay for it.
Only a handful of the county jails that are housing state inmates offer residential drug treatment programs.
The Department of Corrections recently moved almost 300 inmates to county jails when first-degree felons were recalled to state prisons after the Daggett County escape in September.
Corrections director Tom Patterson says the counties shouldn't have to foot the bill for treatment programs. And the state payment to the counties only provides for basic housing.
Patterson says his two top priorities for the next budget are increasing pay for corrections officers and funding treatment programs for inmates at county jails.
Gov. Huntsman is expected to release the new budget tomorrow.
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
