COEUR d'ALENE - An internal audit by Kootenai County found jail personnel didn't adequately protect and account for money they must manage for those in custody.

It also found the county didn't get repaid back tens of thousands of dollars it spent on medical care for inmates, and that inmates were getting charged hidden fees for telephone service in the jail.

The audit was performed at the request of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, which operates the jail at 5500 N. Government Way.

"I knew that we could probably do things better in these areas," Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said Tuesday. "So let's have the experts tell us how to do it better."

Nearly 150 inmates were released with unspent credit balances in their jail accounts, ranging from a penny to $489.30 from Feb. 28, 2013, to March 18.

The inmates originally get the money from family or friends to spend while in jail on hygiene, medical or recreational items or something else.

"All funds in the personal accounts should be routinely returned to the inmate upon release," according to the audit, which was completed in June. The Press received a copy late last week.

The jail disbursed an average of 250 checks per month to released inmates, but the checks often weren't cashed. In February 2014, the sheriff's office also started disbursing money with debit cards, reducing the number of checks.

Wolfinger said an inmate is likely to throw away a check for a small amount.

That money continues to show up on the county's books as money the jail is holding for an inmate.

"We can't make them cash a check," Wolfinger said. "The debit cards are little bit better."

Resources can't be expended tracking someone down for such small amounts, he said.

The audit also said 2,500 inmates racked up $176,000 in debt from medical bills and other expenses. The medical bills add up when an inmate has a baby, or someone with cancer is in custody, Wolfinger said.

"The law is very clear - we have to provide medical services to these people," Wolfinger said. "Even if they can't pay."

"Psychotropic meds can be a really expensive medication," said jail Capt. John Holecek. "If they're prescribed that, a lot of those people have no money at all."

After the medical debt older than four years was removed from the books the total shrank to $95,000, most of which paid for inmate medications, Holecek said.

There is a statute of limitations of four years for collecting such debt.

The sheriff said collecting medical debt is difficult because inmates often don't have the money and they don't provide good mailing information to jail staff upon release.

Finally, the audit said inmates and their families were getting hit with high-cost and surprise fees for phone service at the jail.

Since the audit, the sheriff's office has posted signs at phone kiosks showing what the fees are for calls and other services, Wolfinger said.

Through the jail's phone service, provided by Telmate, inmates and their families were charged fees for completed phone calls, purchases of prepaid phone time, and account deposits, according to the audit.

"That's the price of having a phone system," Wolfinger said. "They put in well over $100,000 of equipment into our facility - free of charge."

Telmate's contract with the county is confusing when fees are to be charged, and deputies and jail personnel are unable to explain to inmates how fees are assessed, the audit said.

"We don't run the phone system," Wolfinger said.

The service is contracted to Telmate.

The Federal Communications Commission has been reviewing the phone service fees charged to inmates nationally.

Telmate pays a site commission to the county of 50 percent of fees charged for all direct and collect completed calls.

"The FCC found such site commission payments are a significant factor contributing to high rates," the audit said.

The report said a number of inmates purchased phone time for less than $5 and were charged more than 21 percent in fees.

Telmate provides good service, Wolfinger said.