Wayne County Jail overcharged $237,000 for inmate meals

Jail officials will receive credit for what Sheriff's Office calls billing error

DETROIT – The Wayne County Sheriff's Office will receive a credit after being overcharged $237,000 for Wayne County Jail inmate meals.

The Sheriff's Office says a 2.8 percent per meal reduction was supposed to be implemented at the start of the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Jail officials conducted an internal billing review this week that found the reduction never was implemented.

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"The Sheriff is scrutinizing every aspect of our operation to determine where cuts or changes can be made, so this is an important discovery on our part," said Chief of Jails Jeriel Heard in a news release. "While the oversight amounts to a few cents per meal, as you can see it adds up when you're serving thousands of meals a day. Those are resources we can certainly use elsewhere in our operation."

The $237,000 should be credited next month, the Sheriff's Office says.

The meals provided are breakfast, lunch and dinner for the inmate population which averages about 2,200 inmates a day.