Voters agree to replace jail rated as state’s worst

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho – Elmore County voters overwhelmingly agreed to spend $7.5 million to replace what is considered the state’s worst jail.

The bond proposal, which will raise taxes by about $4.08 a month for every $100,000 worth of property owned, passed Tuesday with nearly 80 percent of the vote. Only 66 percent was needed.

The new jail is expected to be built by the end of 2006.

“It’s a big relief,” Elmore County Sheriff Rick Layher said Wednesday. “Now I need to focus on getting through the next 18 months and making sure I can keep things together.”

The Elmore County jail, built in 1974, ranked third last year on the Idaho Sheriff’s Association’s list of the worst jails in the state. But since then the two worst have closed, leaving the jail in Mountain Home at the top of the list.

Layher pushed for the bond, saying he was concerned about the safety of inmates and his officers. The Elmore County jail is frequently overcrowded, with as many as 28 inmates kept in the facility built to hold 23.

“It’s going to lower my stress level, not having to worry about not being able to comply with standards,” he said.

In the past, voters haven’t shown much support for a jail bond. Tuesday’s bond election was the fourth request for funding since 1994.

“People were talking on the street and they were talking to other people,” Layher said. “They believed in our problems and there were hundreds of citizens telling each other.”

Tuesday’s 1,854 to 467 vote came after the Pentagon announced earlier this month that the Mountain Home Air Force Base would lose 569 jobs under a recommendation before the Base Realignment and Closure commission.