Court officials say millions of Kentucky tax dollars go towards housing inmates in jails across the state, and many are held for non-violent crimes. A new cost-saving initiative from the Kentucky Supreme Court will now allow some people to post bail immediately, and avoid any jail time.

The program will begin in nine counties across Kentucky on January 1, including Bell, Pike and Boyd Counties.

At the beginning of the new year, some people arrested for certain offenses will no longer be spending the night in jail.

Bell County Jailer Rex Miller says, "They can go ahead and post bond instead of waiting on a judge or a pre-trial officer to get the bond set."

Hundreds of misdemeanor charges and some felony offenses committed are considered non-violent by the Supreme Court's guidelines. Officials say allowing these offenders to avoid jail time will help save money.

Bell County Circuit Judge Robert Costanzo says, "Over the course of the year, if you have several hundred inmates a month that you can do that with, it is a significant cost savings."

Nine counties will take part in the program for the first year as a trial period.
Officials say this will be an effective way for tax payers to get a break.

Costanzo says, "Housing inmates is one of the largest costs of Bell County citizens. They foot the bill for that. There's no state funding for that, that actually comes out of the county's budget."

In addition to lowering costs, Miller says it will help the jail function better overall. "We're a small jail. We've got 59 beds, and right now we've got 85 prisoners," he says.

The new guidelines will never allow people arrested for violent crimes to post an immediate bond.

Jailers will follow strict guidelines from the state when releasing offenders on bail. The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) will have training sessions for officials in all of the nine counties involved.