De-annexation dismissed

by Ryan Collingwood Staff Writer
| February 16, 2017 12:00 AM

COEUR d'ALENE — The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office and jail will remain within Coeur d'Alene city limits.

Three months after Sheriff Ben Wolfinger filed a civil lawsuit against Kootenai County seeking to block a proposal by the Board of Commissioners to de-annex the jail facilities from the city to the county, the case has been dismissed.

Both parties agreed to the dismissal, according to court documents.

Wolfinger told The Press Tuesday the board dropped its de-annexation request.

"We thought this would be the best approach," said Commissioner Chris Fillios. "Even if (the commissioners) prevailed, it might have delayed the construction of the new jail."

The commissioners wanted to pursue a de-annexation to save on building permit fees for the future jail expansion and so the development ordinances for the project would fall under county code.

However, Wolfinger believed a de-annexation would be in direct violation of Idaho statute 31-2009, which states a sheriff's office must have its offices at the county seat. The Kootenai County seat is the city of Coeur d'Alene.

The jail facilities, which also include the juvenile detention and work release centers, haven't been on county property since 1985.

"We would have lost for winning," Fillios said. "It would have gone to two more stages, court and a public hearing. That would have been a taxpayer loss, potentially, because if it took another year (for the new jail), it would cost up to a million (dollars) more because of inflation."