Kootenai County lacks court-hold area
Defendants being held in transport vans surrounded by fencing
It’s been months since Kootenai County building officials condemned the structure where defendants would sit, in secure cells, while waiting for a court hearing.
Since the Worley Building was deemed unsafe, the county doesn’t have anywhere to hold defendants other than the vans used to transport them from jail to the courthouse.
“It’s just a horrible mess,” Sheriff’s Lt. Neal Robertson said. “The Worley Building was bad. We’ve gone from bad to worse.”
Other than temporary chain-link fencing set up around the vans, Robertson said there is no security. Instead of two trips across town each day, jail staff is making several runs to the courthouse. Inmates are paraded in plain view from the vans to the courthouse – often right past curious onlookers and even jurors who aren’t supposed to see defendants in handcuffs and chains.
Sheriff’s officials have concerns about escape attempts, the safety of sheriff’s deputies and courthouse bailiffs and about what to do once the snow hits and temperatures drop.
Robertson foresees defendants walking through snow and slush in their jail scrubs and plastic sandals.
“We’re making a bad situation work right now,” said 1st District Judge John P. Luster, who acts as administrative judge for the five northern counties of Idaho.
There aren’t really any other options – at least in the near future.
County Commissioner Todd Tondee said the county plans to demolish the Worley Building and construct a new building, up to six stories tall, which would have a court-hold facility in the basement, along with a secure sallyport where inmates could be transferred from vans into holding cells.
The building could also house the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s office and the offices of the Public Defender, freeing up space for additional courtrooms and judges chambers.
That all hinges on voter approval of an estimated $145 million bond, which would be repaid through a local-option sales tax.
Funds would allow for expansion of the Kootenai County Jail and a new sheriff’s administration complex, in addition to the new building on the courthouse campus in downtown Coeur d’Alene. If voters approve, it will be 18 months to two years before the buildings are constructed, Tondee said.
If the measure doesn’t pass, Tondee said the county will have to look at renting space to house to ease cramping in county offices.
“We’re obligated to take care of our needs and we think this is the best way to take care of our needs,” he said.
The commissioner considers money spent renting space money wasted.
A shortage of bed space at the jail is also forcing the county to transport inmates to other facilities. In the same amount of time it would take for funds to be collected to pay off the jail measure, Tondee said the county could spend $52 million transporting inmates to other facilities “and have nothing to show for it.”