Judicial OK sought on jail

COEUR d’ALENE - The Kootenai County commission voted Wednesday to seek what’s called judicial confirmation of a proposed rental agreement for use of a new jail.

No location for the proposed 625-bed jail has been selected and the facility won’t be built until the owner, Rocky Mountain Corrections of Ketchum, Idaho, knows for sure the county will occupy it.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office would operate the facility. The county’s current jail has 327 beds, but doesn’t meet the county’s needs, with many prisoners being housed in other jails in the region.

Judicial confirmation means the county will get an opinion from a state District Court judge on the constitutionality of an important section of the proposed rental agreement.

Transporting prisoners to regional jails creates a lot of liability. Full story. David Cole, CdA Press

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