"Once they are convicted and become a state inmate, they might stay in the jail for a year before they are transferred," Pearson said. "But we don't see a penny (from the state) until we drop that prisoner off at Lexington" Assessment and Reception Center, where state prisoners initially are processed.   According to the legislative history, state corrections in 1997 began reimbursing counties that kept state prisoners at a rate of $7 a day for each prisoner. That rate was raised two years later to $24 a day for regular inmates and $20 a day for community sentencing programs. The $27 a day cap took effect Jan. 1, 2007.   Pearson said the county is reimbursed $43 a day for federal prisoners routinely kept at Muskogee County/City Detention Facility. The city of Muskogee, Pearson said, pays the county $32 a day for each inmate, "but the city doesn't keep prisoners in there very long."   At the present reimbursement rate, along with actual cost of keeping 80 state prisoners a day, Pearson said Muskogee County could lose up to $467,200 a year. Muskogee County Commissioner Gene Wallace, District 1, said that money could be used to provide other services.   "In our current situation, we are absorbing the costs of something the state should be providing," Wallace said. "That certainly is not in the best interest of our taxpayers."   Jerry Massie, public information officer for the Department of Corrections, said the agency recognizes the burden on counties that regularly keep state prisoners.   In October, Massie said, county jails housed 1,476 state inmates. A year ago in October, that number was 1,291. The inmate population at state facilities, according to agency reports, has grown from about 23,000 in 2003 to nearly 26,000 in 2010.   "It has kind of gone up and down over the past few years," Massie said. "But it consistently fluctuates from about 1,000 to 1,500 (prisoners) a month."   Massie said it costs the state from $40 a day to keep prisoners in minimum-security facilities to nearly $76 a day for maximum-security inmates. The state pays $45 a day for inmates kept under contract with three private prisons.   While Massie said the agency understands the concerns being expressed by county officials, there is nothing it can do without legislative action.   "We're going to follow the statute that's in place," Massie said.   Unlike a lot of Oklahoma counties, Pearson said he is fortunate Muskogee County voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax to fund his office and jail operations. Without that extra money, Pearson said his annual budget would take an even bigger hit than it does as a result of keeping so many state inmates.   The sales tax, approved by voters in 2007, has generated from $1.5 million to $1.8 million a year. That money, Pearson said, has been used to make improvements at the jail, add deputies and fund other services.   Wallace said even though Pearson uses sales tax revenue to help offset the costs of operating the jail, the county still pledges ad valorem revenue for that service.   "What has magnified the problem is the escalating costs of keeping the inmates. Most of the sheriffs I have talked to say it costs more to keep state inmates than what they are getting," Wallace said. "Now it's a product of marrying up state revenue with its priorities. There has to be a solution here somewhere."