Jail Crowding Becoming Costly Issue Housing Inmates Elsewhere May Cost Kootenai County $30,000 A Month

Attempts to curb jail overcrowding may bust Kootenai County’s budget, county commissioners say.

Last month, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department began shipping inmates to three North Idaho counties.

Jail officials estimate it will cost about $30,000 a month to house inmates in Bonner, Shoshone and Latah counties.

“This is a real budget buster,” said County Commissioner Ron Rankin. “We are overwhelmed.”

The money used to pay for housing inmates out of the county is currently coming from the county’s justice fund.

That fund is contingent, meaning it’s earmarked for emergency major felony cases, such as last year’s weeklong trial of Scott Yager, who was convicted of killing Idaho State Police Trooper Linda Huff.

“That money wasn’t earmarked for prisoners. That’s for if we have major felonies and we need to pay for more prosecution,” Rankin said.

Jail officials say there’s not much they can do.

“We don’t have room to hold them, nor do we have the staff to hold them safely,” Lt. Nile Shirley said. “We have got by, got by and got by for so long.”

Currently the jail has 72 employees and is down five jailer positions.

Jail officials say to run smoothly and safely they need about 20 more positions.

On Thursday, there were 181 inmates being housed in Kootenai County Jail. Another 25 were being held in Bonner, Shoshone and Latah counties.

Over the weekend, anywhere from 189 to 211 people were housed in the jail.

The jail, built in 1986 to house 95 inmates, now has a capacity of 127.

Officials have put in extra bunks and cots and many times put inmates in holding cells normally reserved for keeping inmates for short periods of time.

The $30,000 price tag doesn’t include medical or transportation costs.

Sheriff’s officials are hiring out former law enforcement officers at $15 an hour to transport prisoners.

“The fear is that it’s going to cost more than we can afford. We need to put a game plan together to see what we can do,” Commissioner Dick Compton said. “We’ve got a problem.”

Sheriff Rocky Watson will meet with commissioners either today or Monday to draft a strategy to deal with the costs, Compton said.

Last year, Kootenai County voters rejected a sales tax increase that would have expanded the jail to a capacity of 385.

Rankin is proposing a half-cent sales tax carried over a five-year period.

It’s designed to raise $12 million for jail expansion and $12 million for property tax relief - which is required by law, he said.

Even though voters rejected the sales tax, the county still plans to expand the jail and remodel the aging 14-year-old facility.

An architect has already drawn up conceptual plans.

“They have said it will be built,” Capt. Ben Wolfinger said.

Crime bill The Kootenai County Jail has a capacity of 127 inmates. On Thursday, it housed 181 inmates and county officials paid to house 25 other inmates in jails in Latah, Bonner and Shoshone counties. Housing inmates out of county cost Kootenai $8,655 in December, and the projected cost for January is $27,310. At that rate, the county’s $100,000 justice fund would be depleted by mid-April.