All Facts Needed Before Conclusion Made

After reading the article in the Handle Extra last Saturday, I feel that it is time to correct some of the misconceptions that are being put forth by Glen Walker.

Walker would have you believe that there is no rehabilitation going on in Kootenai County. In fact, the vast majority of substance abuse offenses (alcohol and drugs) require a substance abuse assessment and commonly some sort of counseling is part of the sentence.

Walker knows that the courts can only mandate rehabilitation after a person is convicted. Rehabilitation still has only a very limited success.

Walker also says that inmates should be out shoveling snow, raking leaves and picking up trash. Convicted inmates currently are doing that. More than 300 inmates are in the Sheriff’s Labor Program in lieu of incarceration.

At least half a dozen, every day, work at the landfill picking recyclable material out of the trash. All inmates on the labor program pay their own workman’s compensation insurance to take part in the program.

Walker states that we want to build a jail big enough to lock up everyone in the county. Now that is ludicrous. What we are asking for is the ability to build at today’s costs, with the ability to grow as needed and expand in the future. It appears Walker would have us build only enough beds for today’s population. This shows a lack of planning and foresight.

Walker also says that he would rather wait for a federal lawsuit before we build a jail. I am a firm believer that an ounce of prevention is much better than spending thousands of dollars in a federal lawsuit and thousands more complying with federal mandates while construction is underway.

Contrary to Walker’s statement, we are continuing to fail inspections by the Idaho Jail Standards. The sole reason for failure has been overcrowding conditions.

Finally, Walker twists numbers to make you believe that the sales tax increase is 10 percent when in reality it is one half of 1 percent. On a typical day, more than 25 percent of the jail population have their home outside of Kootenai County. They come here and spend money, paying sales tax, but they do not help pay for the jail through their property taxes.

It has been more than two years since the Citizens Advisory Committee was formed by a dedicated group of volunteers. Their meetings have been publicized and open to the public. It seems irresponsible that Walker would come now, at the 11th hour, and try to undo what has taken two years to do, without the background, without the input and without all of the facts.