In West Virginia, the Monroe County Jail has implemented a new plan.

The county jail will start charging inmates for the cost of their confinement. This is being called the “pay to stay” plan:

This plan only applies to convicted individuals serving out sentences, and the amount paid is determined according to the incarcerated person’s income. After a sentencing and completion of paperwork, the individuals are advised of the amount owed for the time of incarceration.

Black said no major problems have been encountered yet, but if payment isn’t made, civil action will be taken.

If the individual is housed in a jail outside the county, that person has to pay full restitution for the amount charged to Monroe County. The jail in Monroe County is a 12-day facility.

Black told county commissioners this week about the pay to stay plan, noting that $1,440 had been received for the first month and that amount will be higher since some people affected are still in jail.

The sheriff described it as “a worthwhile, paying project.”

Everything old is new again. It might surprise readers to know that in colonial America and even earlier than that in England, jail inmates were required to cover the costs of their imprisonment.

Starting in the early 1600s, a new Act in England made prisoners liable for the cost of their own transportation to the gaol (or jail). Newly arrived inmates were then required to pay a number of fees to the gaol keeper, which varied according to their rank and to the level of comfort they wanted to enjoy during their incarceration. This was the original “pay to stay” plan.

“At the Fleet prison, a schedule of 1561 records that the admission fee for giving ‘the liberty of the house’ (and so avoid being put in leg irons) ranged from 10 pounds for an archbishop, down to 13 shilling 4 pennies for a yeoman. At the Tower of London, the constable of the Tower required a similar payment: 20 pounds for a duke; 20 marks for an earl; 10 pounds for a baron; and 100 shillings for a knight.

The prisoner might also have to stump up for a bond to guarantee his good behaviour and regular outgoings during his stay, a fee to the clerk who drew up the bond, another fee for being entered in the prison register, various tips to the gaoler, chamberlain and porter, and finally a round of drinks for all concerned.

At the end of their stay, the final charge demanded of all prisoners was a discharge fee. At Newgate, the scale of charges began at eightpence, rising to 2 shillings for felons. At the Fleet, generally reckoned to be the most expensive of London’s gaols, the cost of discharge ranged from 3 pounds 5 shillings down to a minimum of 2 shillings 4 pennies — which even the totally destitute were required to pay or else remain in prison indefinitely.

On top of these ‘administrative’ fees came various other ongoing charges levied by the keeper, in 1431, for example, Newgate made a charge of fourpence a week toward the running costs of the prison lamps. In 1488, the price for prison-supplied beds at Newgate was set at a penny per week for a bed with sheets, blankets and a coverlet, and a penny per week for a couch. Alternatively, prisoners could bring in their own beds…Although the city authorities made periodic efforts to regulate these charges, they were the source of regular abuse. At Ludgate, one prisoner, who had brought in his own bed, bedding and clothes, was obliged to pay for their use by the gaoler John Bottisham. There were also instances of bedding, and lights donated from charitable sources being charged for, although this practice was prohibited in London prisons from 1463.

From 1729, the costs of admission, discharge, and so on, could become even more expensive after judges ruled that someone committed to prison for several different offences was liable to pay separate sets of fees for each of them.

On top of the various fees and charges taken by the gaoler, additional payments in the form of ‘garnish’ and ‘chummage’ were exacted from new inmates by the prisoners already in residence. At Marshalsea, the garnish comprised a flat payment on arrival by new prisoners of 8 shillings for men and 5 shillings 6 pennies for women, regardless of their standing. Payment of the money allowed access to the common room, use of boiling water from the fire, the cooking of food and the reading of newspapers..”[Higginbotham, Peter (2010) pp.28-29]

FYI — 1 shilling = 12 pennies; 1 pound = 20 shillings.
In terms of its purchasing power 1 pound in the year 1750 would in 2009 be worth around 139 pounds or $223 in U.S. dollars. In 1850, 1 pound would now be worth around 83 pounds or $133. This will give you a sense of just how expensive the cost of confinement was for jail inmates in England.