Butler County continues to profit from prisons elsewhere having cramped quarters.

Through June 30, the Butler County Prison garnered $865,268 in revenue from housing state, federal and Fayette County inmates.

As of Tuesday, there were 28 state inmates, 35 federal prisoners and 35 Fayette inmates out of a total of 365.

The county receives a daily rate of $60 per inmate from both the state and Fayette. The U.S. Marshal’s Office pays a daily rate of $76.

County Controller Jack McMillin said at the county prison board meeting Tuesday that the June revenue from Fayette was nearly $51,000, up $40,000 from the previous month.

Warden Rick Shaffer said there would be no problem filling 40 inmate beds, the available space in the prison, with Fayette prisoners.

“They’ll give us as many as we can take,” Shaffer said.

The entire state inmate contingent is comprised of parole violators.

Unlike convicts serving the remainder of the original state sentence, who finish their terms back in state prison, parole violators are released in Butler.

Fayette inmates also can be released here.

McMillin, who is on the prison board, expressed concern about the practice of not sending every out-of-county inmate back to where they came from.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” he said.

Shaffer compared the situation to Butler County inmates who live in other counties being released here.

McMillin wasn’t swayed.

“We’re inviting a problem we can preemptively avoid,” he said.

Shaffer said the state and Fayette could determine the retrieval of released inmates would not be cost-effective and stop sending prisoners to Butler.

Sheriff Mike Slupe, who also is a prison board member, agreed with Shaffer there is no problem releasing inmates from other facilities in Butler.

Slupe said in an interview that’s how prisons operate.

The prison board agreed to set an automatic 40-inmate maximum, so Fayette knows it can replace the number of inmates it takes back to fill Butler’s capacity.

Shaffer told the board in June it could consider opening one of two closed inmate housing pods to take in more out-of-county prisoners.

He said at that meeting the cost to pay for an additional 11 corrections officers to man an eighth pod would be more than offset by the extra revenue.

County Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, prison board chairman, said in an interview another pod can’t be opened without a commitment from the state to send significantly more inmates.

“At the present time, no,” Pinkerton said. “Only if there would be a great demand.”

Each idle pod has a capacity of 63 inmates.

Pinkerton said the state would have to commit to a minimum number of inmates under a one-year agreement before another pod is opened.

“We can’t afford to do that right now,” he said.

However, Pinkerton stressed that would change as soon as such a commitment would be made.