Jail courtroom sets use record
The Kootenai County Public Safety Building (PSB) saw a record number of defendants remaining in custody to see a judge during first appearances following the busy holiday weekend. Jail staff will escort 62 inmates to a court session which will take place using a video-arraignment system – the Judge remains at the Courthouse Complex while the inmates remain in custody at the PSB.
First appearances are generally held each Monday, following a normal weekend. During the appearance, the presiding judge advises the defendants of their rights and each defendant is given the opportunity to enter a plea. Following a holiday weekend, this first appearance is held on the first business day following the holiday. In the case of the Fourth of July weekend, first appearances will be held on Tuesday, July 5th, at 2pm.
There are usually 25-30 inmates attending first appearances on any usual Monday – 62 is the most the PSB has ever had for this appearance. These 62 inmates are those who either could not post bond, chose not to post bond, or had no bond amount set until seeing the Judge.
Overall, there were 105 inmates booked into the Kootenai County PSB over the holiday weekend (between 5pm on July 1st until 5am on July 5th). Of those, 33 were felony arrests. A total of 21 DUI arrests were made during the same time period (3 were felonies and 5 were Excessive DUIs – over 0.20).
The Jail’s capacity is 327. The busy weekend increased the jail population to 357 (22 of whom are housed in other jails due to overcrowding)/Major Kim Edmondson, jail commander. More here.
Question: Did you see any illegal activity going on downtown Monday?
