SNOW HILL — A Greene County Jail inmate, locked up on a murder charge, has created a whopping bill for the county’s already-drained budget.
In going over revisions of the budget at the last county meeting, Interim County Manager Richard Hicks disclosed the unexpected expenditure. The inmate, who was taken to the state prison and given medical care during a three-month stay, ran up a bill of $31,188.
“This just kind of caught us by surprise,” Hicks said.
Sheriff Lemmie Smith said inmates are transferred to Central Prison in Raleigh for long-term medical care through the Inmate Safekeeper program. This particular inmate has terminal cancer, Smith said.
The inmate, Ronald F. Taylor, formerly of Hookerton, was transferred to Central Prison Oct. 9 and was released Dec. 3.
“We had him in jail for murder,” Smith said, “and he got cancer and we didn’t have the facility to keep him.”
On June 16, Taylor got into an argument with another man over money owed for cutting grass and took a yard implement and hit the other man, killing him, Smith said.
According to court records, Taylor was sentenced to 16-29 months on Dec. 3 for involuntary manslaughter. The sentence was suspended and he was given 36 months probation.
Smith said medical situations such as this one periodically occur and there is nothing the county can do except pay the bill.
“We’ve had some bills in the past,” he said, “but maybe not this big.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.