Benewah's cramped jail cited in lawsuit

ST. MARIES — Four inmates of the Benewah County Jail have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the sheriff, jail staff and county commissioners, alleging civil rights violations.

The suit was filed by Michael Demoura, 54, Cody Adamson, 27, Thomas Sochinsky, 25, and Steve Sivo, 37, under a federal statute.

The men were housed in the jail in early April on unrelated charges.

In an order filed last week, United States Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale split the combined lawsuit into five separate suits, noting only one defendant, Demoura, signed the suit and that filing fees have not been paid.

Benewah County Sheriff Dave Resser said although tort claims filed by inmates are usually forwarded to the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, or ICRMP, the county’s insurer, the latest case was filed under a federal statute, and is therefore being reviewed by a federal judge.

“There’s a certain period of time the federal judge will look at it and determine its validity,” Resser said.

The judge will then decide whether to hear the case or dismiss it.

The men allege their civil rights were violated while they were incarcerated in the Benewah County Jail in April because the 16-bed facility, built in 1924, is a safety and health hazard, and the inmates were denied proper medical care.

They are asking for damages of $20 million, and a temporary restraining order “precluding the St. Maries county sheriffs and jail deputies from any adverse actions for the filing of this complaint.”

The lawsuit also requests an attorney to represent the other plaintiffs.

Demoura was sentenced April 13 to 30 days in jail for destroying jail property, and has since been incarcerated in the Adams County Jail on two federal probation violations. Misdemeanor charges of obstructing justice and driving without privileges against Adamson are pending. Sochinsky faces a felony charge of lewd conduct with a child, which is also pending, and a domestic battery trial for Sivo is set for this summer.

Lawsuits filed against counties by inmates are not unusual, but the Benewah suit highlights what county officials have mulled for decades. The jail, a cramped, antiquated facility located on the third floor of the county’s courthouse, has been the target of replacement efforts by several administrations.

A decade ago, after a series of jailbreaks in which inmates removed bricks from outside walls and then slipped through the resulting holes, former Sheriff Bob Kirts drew up plans for a new jail, but the effort fell by the wayside. Since then, more jail breaks have occurred, prompting Resser to line the inside of some walls with steel.

Inspector Cindy Malm, the jail standards coordinator for the Idaho Sheriff’s Association, said the Benewah jail has not met standards for decades.

“I don’t think it’s ever been certified,” Malm said. At least not since she took over as inspector in 2009, she added.

The Sheriff’s Association uses 329 standards that include administration, staff training, record keeping, food service, fire safety and inmate supervision to certify jails.

“They have never been able to meet all the standards,” Malm said.

Because the standards are not mandatory, the Sheriff’s Association instead reports its findings and any improvements that have been made at the jails since the last inspection, she said. Benewah County is among two outdated facilities in the Panhandle, including the Boundary County jail, and antiquated facilities are commonplace in Idaho, she said.

“The majority of it is the building,” Malm said.

In her latest order, Dale ruled that for the lawsuit to proceed, plaintiffs must each pay a quarter of the $400 filing fee and file corrected, signed complaints of their own.