Elmore voters to decide fate of state’s worst jail

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho – Voters in Elmore County will decide today whether to raise their taxes to replace what’s considered the worst jail in Idaho.

Last year, the Idaho Sheriff’s Association issued a report calling the circa-1974 Elmore County jail in Mountain Home the third worst in the state. Since then, the two jails rated worse on the list have closed, putting Elmore County, just southeast of Boise, at the top.

Sheriff Rick Layher said he’s concerned about the safety of inmates and his officers with the current jail, which has room for 23 inmates but is frequently overcrowded.

Hallways are used as common areas and Layher said inmates can easily reach through cell bars and grab jailers as they walk by. Replacement parts for locks on the cell doors are no longer available and visibility into cells is limited. There’s currently a waiting list to get into the jail for people already convicted of felonies but not yet incarcerated.

Voters are being asked to approve a $7.5 million bond to build a new facility that would hold 136 inmates, meet the county’s needs for the next 20 years and eliminate the current practice of paying other jails to house Elmore County inmates.

“We’re spending a fortune sending prisoners to other counties right now,” Layher told the Mountain Home News. “That’s not an efficient use of tax dollars.”

If the bond is approved, property taxes on the average $100,000 home in the county of 29,000 people would rise $4.08 a month.

“Really, that’s not a lot to pay for the security of your family,” said county Clerk Gail Best.

But voters have not shown much interest in paying for a new jail. Today’s jail bond election will be the fourth request for jail funding since 1994, with the most recent request defeated by a slim margin in November.

The election also comes in the wake of the Pentagon’s announcement earlier this month that the county’s major employer, Mountain Home Air Force Base, would have a net loss of 569 jobs under a proposal before the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.