Commissioners in the nine counties that banded together to build the $5 million Martin Hall juvenile detention center figured private enterprise could operate it more efficiently than a government agency could.

Time will tell whether they were right, but Correctional Services Corp. of Sarasota, Fla. - a for-profit company - is paying salaries that are $3 to $4 an hour below the going rates for corrections personnel in this area.

So far, the 30 to 35 staff members have outnumbered inmates, who have averaged 21 to 22 a day.

The participating counties - Stevens, Spokane, Whitman, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Ferry, Adams, Asotin and Douglas - must pay for 27 beds whether they are used or not, but they need to fill 42 beds to meet the center’s budget. So Martin Hall director Denny Roach is recruiting customers.

The state Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration plans to rent four or five beds soon, and a deal is in the works for juveniles in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

, DataTimes