Montgomery County’s jail system is footing the bill for inmates who should be housed in state facilities, leading to cuts in programs and services that could mean higher numbers of repeat offenders, officials said.

In most states, inmates sentenced to more than a year in prison are sent to state facilities while those with lesser sentences are sent to a county lockup, said Art Wallenstein, director of the county’s Department of Correction and Rehabilitation. But for 30 years Maryland reimbursed counties to hold inmates sentenced up to 18 months in a bid to save costs on building and operating state prisons.