Volunteers Needed To Study Jail Crowding

County officials are seeking volunteers to serve on a committee to study expanding the jail.

Committee members will study the need for expanding the current facility and alternatives to ease crowding at the 11-year-old facility.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department and county commissioners will host a meeting Wednesday at 4 p.m. to discuss the committee.

Jail population has soared during recent years. It reached a single-day high of 211 in 1996 and regularly hovers around 160.

Built in 1987 to house 95 inmates, the jail’s capacity has been expanded to hold 127. Much of the office and storage space has been converted to cells.