Fees for felons

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Go directly to jail. Do not collect $200. In fact, if you’re in West Virginia, pay up. Local inmates there are now charged a $20 “processing fee” every time they’re thrown in the slammer.

A 1999 state law requires local jails to charge the fee. The rationale? “Lawbreakers should have to pay more of the cost of their crimes to the taxpayers,” says jail administrator Tammy Belldina. If inmates can’t pay, the fee is deducted from any money put into their jail account. And if the inmate isn’t convicted of his or her crime, the fee is grudgingly refunded.