Kootenai Jail Ships Out Prisoners

Item: Nez Perce jail filling beds with Kootenai County prisoners /Brad W. Gary, Lewiston Tribune

More Info: The jail population, the number of people incarcerated at the complex, topped at 121 on Monday. Lt. Jack McGee with the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office said an additional three or four inmates are expected from Coeur d’Alene this week, joining about 17 presently in custody at the jail. “We sort of asked them to go slow, because we have to order more uniforms, more mattresses, so we’re trying to get some of those supplies in before they hurt us hard,” McGee said. Kootenai County joins the Nez Perce Tribe and the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections in paying $45 per inmate per day to house their prisoners in the jail.

Question: Is it better to ship prisoners to regional jails at $45 per day than to bite the bullet and pass a bond or some other funding measure to expand the Kootenai County Jail?