Payments total over $1 million dollars
State officials have recouped about $55,000 of the more than $1.1 million in unemployment benefits improperly paid to prisoners.
The State Department of Economic Security says that 475 inmates had been issued checks from January 2010 to January 2012. The discovery came after the agency cross-checked its unemployment benefit rolls with a list of state prisoners in February.
Prisoners cannot work so they're not eligible for the benefits.
The department says one prisoner collected about $10,000 over 46 weeks, though the average overpayment was around $2,900.
