Payments the Butler County Prison receives for housing federal inmates has been covering the prison construction debt service for the last two years.

Prison board members on Tuesday discussed the money received for holding federal inmates in a review of operating revenues and expenditures from last year.

“Increased revenue from federal inmates is covering debt service,” said Leslie Osche, county commissioner and prison board member.

According to financial reports from Controller Benjamin Holland, the $7.1 million the prison received for holding federal inmates in 2022 accounted for the vast majority of the $7.7 million received in total housing revenue for housing inmates from federal, state and other county prisons.

The $7.1 million is more than enough to pay the prison’s annual $4 million debt service.

“It’s definitely an enviable situation to be in,” Holland said.

The federal inmate revenue alone exceeded the $6.2 million that was budgeted as total housing revenue from federal, state and other county inmates.

As of Jan. 10 this year, the 194 federal inmates accounted for a little more than half of the 376 inmates in the prison. The prison’s inmate capacity is 574.

In 2021, federal inmate revenue was $6.3 million, and total housing revenue was $6.4 million.

Total housing revenue was $1.5 million in 2020, but the number of federal inmates began to increased toward the end of the year as a result of restructuring the prison construction bonds from municipal bonds to tax exempt bonds, which allowed the prison to accept more federal inmates, board members said.

Projects financed through municipal bonds are not permitted to generate revenue, officials said.

The prison had 30 federal inmates in 2019, and had 30 in 2020 until November when an influx increased the total for year to almost 200, said Warden Joe DeMore. The average number of federal inmates was around 200 in 2021 and 235 in 2022, he said.

In other business, four inmates passed their General Educational Development tests since the last board meeting in December, DeMore said.