Attorney General's News Release

October 4, 1996

Nixon obtains $50,000 check as first payment from millionaire inmate for cost of incarceration

Jefferson City, Mo. — The state of Missouri received a check for $50,000 this week as the first payment from an inmate who was ordered to reimburse the state more than $97,000 for the costs of his incarceration.

Attorney General Jay Nixon had filed suit against Darryl E. Gilyard, who is serving a life sentence for murder, under the Missouri Incarceration Reimbursement Act. The law, passed in 1988, entitles the state to recover costs for inmate care after any obligations to spouse or children are met.

Gilyard had won a $4.3 million lawsuit 10 years ago after being seriously injured in Blue Springs in 1984 when a gravel truck hit the garbage truck he was riding on. His legs were crushed and later amputated. In 1988 Gilyard shot and killed a friend at a Kansas City apartment in what Jackson County prosecutors said was a drug-related murder. He was convicted of the crime and received a life sentence without parole, which he currently is serving at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.

“Inmates often try to play a shell game with their assets in an attempt to hide them from the state, both for incarceration reimbursement and from their financial obligations to their children,” Nixon said. “That game is over for Mr. Gilyard, and we will make certain taxpayers don't have to shoulder the costs of his room and board.”

Nixon said Gilyard will continue to make payments toward satisfying the balance of the $97,724.61 order issued last June by Cole County Circuit Judge Thomas Brown.

According to the Missouri Department of Corrections, it costs approximately $12,000 per year for incarceration costs at the prison in Jefferson City. Nixon's office collected more than $92,000 in incarceration reimbursement from inmates in 1995.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818