Holiday weekend? Not at the jail

The Kootenai County jail didn’t take a holiday during the Fourth of July weekend.

A record number of inmates remained in custody Tuesday morning awaiting their first appearances in front of a judge after being booked into the jail during the holiday weekend, according to a press release issued by Sheriff Ben Wolfinger.

Jail staff escorted 62 inmates to a court session held Tuesday afternoon using a video arraignment system that allows the judge to remain at the county’s courthouse complex while the inmates are in custody at the jail.

First appearances are generally held the first day after each weekend, usually Mondays. During a first appearance, the presiding judge advises the defendants of their rights and each defendant is given the opportunity to enter a plea.

There are usually 25-30 inmates attending first appearances on any usual Monday, Wolfinger said. Tuesday’s 62 inmates is the largest number the jail has ever seen. These 62 inmates are those who either could not post bond, chose not to post bond, or had no bond amount set until seeing the judge.

Overall, there were 105 inmates booked into Kootenai County jail between 5 p.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Tuesday. Of those, 33 were felony arrests. A total of 21 DUI arrests were made during the same period with three of those being felonies and five being excessive DUIs in which the suspect’s blood alcohol level was recorded at more than 0.20.

The jail’s capacity is 327. The busy weekend increased the jail population to 357, with 22 housed in other jails due to overcrowding.

Bookings weren’t the only thing keeping jail staff busy during the holiday weekend. There were 69 inmates released from custody during that time. Releasing an inmate takes as much effort as the initial booking process, so this kept staff busy as well, Wolfinger said.

To view the daily press log with arrests made in a 24-hour period or the current inmate list, visit kcsheriff.com.