Enjoy a 'Clean and Modern' Room at Fremont’s Pay-to-Stay Jail

If you’ve been sentenced to serve jail time for a misdemeanor, you can share a tiny cell with Bubba at the county jail. Or, you can get clean and modern accommodations in Fremont’s  “Pay-to-Stay” program — if you can afford it. 

For $155 a day, plus a $45 one-time processing fee, those approved by a sentencing magistrate can serve their time in a “modern, clean and efficiently operated jail facility,” according to the Fremont Police Department. Participants must pass a screening, which includes a TB test and background check.

Those in the Pay-to-Stay program will have their own sleeping quarters with access to day room areas, showers and phones.

But it isn’t a luxurious getaway. The rooms are still small and windowless, the meals basic.

While some critics have said the program is unfair, Fremont Police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques told ABC News that those in the Pay-to-Stay program “get the same treatment as the general population – same food, same bed, same phone call and TV rights.”

The program is just another option for sentencing, Bosques said.

It might also add to the city’s revenues.

The city designed the program after similar models in southern California to generate additional funds.

Though the program is sponsored by the city, Bosques told ABC News that staffing at the Fremont Jail would not change so it will not be a burden on taxpayers.

What do you think? Should those convicted of misdemeanors by allowed to “pay-to-stay” in a nicer jail? Tell us in the comments.