Overcrowding continues at county jail

COEUR d’ALENE — Amid continued overcrowding, Kootenai County commissioners directed the Sheriff’s Office this week to determine how much it would cost to complete two unfinished dormitory pods at the county jail.

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told commissioners that 535 people were being held in the jail Tuesday. The jail’s population has reportedly been more than 500 since March 2.

The jail is so crowded that nearly 100 people are sleeping on the floor.

“I have 85, at last count, that have a bunk on the floor,” said Capt. Stu Miller. “Basically a mattress in a plastic container.”

When fully staffed, the jail’s functional capacity is around 380 people, about 80% of its total capacity. With current staffing levels, Miller said capacity ought to be closer to 360.

Housing, feeding and transporting so many inmates is costly, Norris said.

“Pretty much every line item that has to do with inmate transportation, inmate housing, is blowing out our budget,” Norris said. “We will be over budget this year.”

To address overcrowding, Norris has frequently lobbied commissioners to provide funding to complete two pods at the jail that could house another 108 people.

The “shells” of these pods were built during the last jail expansion in 2018, but remain unfinished. Last year, the Sheriff’s Office estimated that it would cost $6 million to complete them.

Commissioners asked Norris to bring them a proposal with information about building costs and whether the pods would be for general population or specialized, as well as projections for the costs of staffing the additional housing units.

“I have been on board with building out the pods as long as you can staff them,” said Commissioner Leslie Duncan.

The jail remains understaffed, Norris said Tuesday, though not as badly as this time last year. The Sheriff’s Office has reportedly filled about two-thirds of open positions at the jail, though more detention deputies and control room operators are still needed.

“I just need to know how much it’s going to cost us,” Duncan said. “Is it going to cost more than our taxing authority? Because that’s going to be an issue. We’re going to have to figure out what services to cut in order to pay for those additional deputies. Those are things we can’t just make a blanket decision on. I need to see the numbers.”

Miller said the challenges posed by large jail populations aren’t going away any time soon.

“Even if we were to build out the two current pods we have vacant today, they would be full tomorrow,” he said. “Long-term, we really need to start thinking of alternatives to sentencing or a larger facility or something.”