Batt May Intervene In Work Camp

Gov. Phil Batt has told Kootenai County leaders he will consider reversing the state Juvenile Corrections Department decision to locate a youth work camp in Lewiston.

Earlier this month, the agency announced it selected Lewiston over Hayden for the camp, which would have an annual operating budget of $1.7 million and employ 40 people.

Only minimum-security offenders would be located there, working on community projects.

During a presentation last week in Boise, Kootenai County Commissioner Dick Compton and Sen. Gordon Crow, R-Hayden, told Batt that Kootenai County offers cheaper land and a receptive business community.

Based on U.S. Census figures, Kootenai County is growing much faster than Lewiston’s Nez Perce County so it makes more sense to build the 50-bed detention facility to the north, Compton said.

“Sixty-two percent of the population of the 10 northern counties is within the five northernmost counties,” he said. “And Kootenai County will be the population center of North Idaho for the foreseeable future.”

Batt also was presented with a 14-point checklist evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of each site. Batt told the two he would take the information under advisement.