COUNTY: Shackled by shortsightedness

I see the county commissioners are again looking at having a private company build a new jail that they would then lease. The problem is that they still haven’t requested an analysis on what their actual needs are. The Federal Department of Justice provides a free “needs analysis” to counties facing capacity problems at their jail facilities, so the counties have an expert unbiased opinion about what their actual needs are and what options they have to mitigate the problem without new construction. The last DOJ needs analysis that county has on record is the one that was requested prior to building the last jail expansion.

It would seem like a great first step, but perhaps the county administration doesn’t want to be embarrassed by the revelation that when the last jail expansion was designed, the plans showed a “future inmate housing pod” off the northeast corner of the jail annex that was not built because it was not yet needed. Perhaps they don’t want the public to find out that people here are arrested and booked for offenses that many other municipalities in the area “cite and release” for.

Perhaps this is just a way to utilize the existing jail facility as a “surplus property” that can be leased out as a private prison or a transitional facility to release inmates into the county. There are benefits to this type of program, but it deserves a good public debate first. I take issue to Commissioner Nelson’s claim that my questions about how the existing facility might be used were “speculative.” An empty jail facility has a limited number of uses, and a high value of a lease only for the use it was built for. Isn’t it reasonable to wonder if there isn’t a plan to generate income off the existing facility? Does the community want a private prison or work release center in the middle of town? And why, months after I pointed out to two of the commissioners that they can obtain a free needs analysis, does it remain unrequested?

LARRY SPENCER

Hayden