Other overcrowding options

COEUR d'ALENE - The problem of jail overcrowding is not going away in Kootenai County, so ways to address the problem must continue to be explored, said Commissioner Dan Green.

"In my opinion, there are at least four options available at this time," Green said Tuesday.

He said he isn't endorsing any of the options, but one is to appeal last week's decision by District Court Judge John Stegner.

Stegner decided a lease agreement with Rocky Mountain Corrections, of Ketchum, should not proceed because it violates the Idaho Constitution.

Green and Sheriff Ben Wolfinger supported the lease agreement, which would have had Rocky Mountain building and owning a new and larger jail facility that the county would lease and operate.

Green said revisions to the language in the non-appropriation clause within the lease agreement could address the judge's concerns.

"His opinion was that the proposed language did not constitute a non-appropriation clause and that the county would be liable for debt in excess of one year," Green said.

A study could be conducted to assess needs, and a new jail could be designed and built that the county would own.

"This would require bond financing and would require a vote of the citizens," Green said.

The final option, Green said, is to continue addressing jail overcrowding as the county does now, which is to transport prisoners to other regional jails.

The county could seek additional facilities to handle the county's overflow, Green said.

"I don't think that any option is off the table," Wolfinger said Tuesday. "However, three years ago, Sheriff (Rocky) Watson was asked to propose something other than a bond, and that is what got us to the privately built, leased option."

Wolfinger agrees with Green; the problem is not going away.

"In the past, the jails have been built to a dollar amount to address the needs of the day, not the future," Wolfinger said.

The recent leased jail proposal, involving Rocky Mountain Corrections, would have provided 625 beds. That's up from the current facility's 327 beds.

"Bottom line, we will help inform the board of commissioners on whichever option they may choose, but the decision is ultimately theirs," Wolfinger said.

Green and Wolfinger will speak about the county's current options at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Avondale Golf Club restaurant in Hayden Lake.

The Kootenai County Reagan Republicans are hosting the discussion.

"Reagan Republicans have taken no position on this or previous jail proposals, but our members are keenly interested in learning about the fiscal impact of all future proposals to build or expand jail facilities," said Reagan Republicans President Jeff Ward. "We are all wondering what will be proposed next."

Avondale Golf Club is located at 10745 N. Avondale Loop.