Jail swap floated

Fri., Jan. 12, 2007

By Jonathan Brunt jonathanb@spokesman.com (509) 459-5442

Inmates from Kootenai and Spokane counties may soon share space behind bars.

Geiger Corrections Center is offering to house up to 30 male inmates from across the state line.

The proposal has been touted as a way to ease overcrowding in Kootenai County while lowering costs to Spokane County.

“The more bodies we have, the lower the rates,” Geiger Director Leon Long said. “The benefit for Geiger is to help us meet our budget needs.”

Geiger, which houses minimum- and medium-security inmates, is run by Spokane County and is supposed to be self-financed by charging daily rates – lower than the Spokane County Jail’s – to jurisdictions to house offenders. But 2006 was the first time in five years that Geiger fully supported itself through inmate fees. In the five years before that, Geiger lost $1.8 million.

Spokane County commissioners are expected to consider a contract between Geiger and Kootenai County later this month.

Kootenai County Jail Commander Travis Chaney said leaders have been searching for other lockups “to house our burgeoning inmate population.”

The 325-bed jail had 307 inmates in custody Thursday, with 26 additional inmates housed off-site.

Last year the county reached an agreement to house offenders in Ferry County, Wash. Chaney said the jail will continue to send inmates to the Ferry County Jail, which is about 180 miles from Coeur d’Alene. Geiger will be used for inmates serving shorter sentences.

Housing an inmate at Ferry County costs $50 a day. Kootenai County will pay $61.40 per inmate each day to house offenders at Geiger. Chaney said the county hasn’t decided how many inmates it will send to Geiger.

Leaders in Spokane and Kootenai counties are looking for ways to build new jails to replace ones that are often at capacity. Geiger, meanwhile, usually has at least 50 beds open, Long said.

Geiger has a maximum population of about 610 but had just 486 inmates Thursday. To break even, the center needs to hold an average of about 580 inmates, said Chris Wiese, Geiger’s finance manager.

Spokane County Jail Commander Jerry Brady said his jail sends as many inmates as it can to Geiger, but that many don’t qualify because they require higher security.

Long said Geiger will reserve the right to deny space to Kootenai County if Spokane County needs the beds. Almost all of Geiger’s population comes through the Spokane County Jail. The center also has contracts to house female inmates from the federal prison system and state parole violators.

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