Power County has moved one step closer to having a new jail - a much bigger jail.
Rocky Mountain Corrections (RMC) recently informed Power County Sheriff Jim Jeffries that a letter of intent was signed by Idaho Department of Corrections Warden Randy Blades for the state to contract with the county to house inmates.
Blades met with Power County Commissioners and Sheriff Jeffries at the courthouse Friday, June 27. Blades began the meeting by explaining how badly the state needs extra beds for inmates.
“One in 34 Idaho males are in prison, on probation, or on parole,” Blades explained. “We’re expecting 5,000 more inmates in the next 10 years.”
Blades said that Idaho’s criminal justice system is the fourth fastest growing in the country.
Jeffries said the problem of housing inmates is also a local problem. Power County’s current jail was built in 1980 and houses up to 24 inmates. Jeffries said that the county is constantly called upon to hold more inmates, and that he only expects the problem to worsen in the future.
Whenever Power County has too many inmates it’s forced to send the overflow to other facilities. This costs the county approximately $50 per day, which can add up to a great deal of money.
“If we don’t do anything in 20 years we could have 50 prisoners,” Jeffries said. “We’re trying to take that burden off the taxpayers. It is a worthwhile project.”
The proposed jail facility would hold over 300 inmates, with 250 of those coming from the state.
Blades said the state inmates would be classified “medium custody,” which is a classification driven by the inmates’ behavior. Medium custody inmates are not considered high risk inmates, he said.
The new facility would be funded by private investors, but the exact cost of the facility has not been reported. The county would lease the facility over a certain number of years and then it would be turned over to the county.
While the exact cost of the proposed facility wasn’t reported, Blades said Idaho prisons cost approximately $439 per square foot to build, which takes into account everything from the building costs to installing equipment. A county jail, on the other hand, costs approximately $200 per square foot.
County Commissioner Ken Estep said the proposed jail makes sense in terms of saving money. Besides removing the need to house county inmates in other jails, he said the new facility would represent a source of revenue.
Jeffries said he’s looked at a dozen potential sites for the proposed jail. One site he believes would be best suited for the facility would be in the area around the Power County Fairgrounds.
Jeffries said that site has several advantages. He said it’s flat, so it would require little excavating, and that it was close to town. The county also owns land in that area; enough to cover the 12 acres the new facility would need.
While still in the early planning stages, the proposed facility would take between 16 and 18 months to build. New deputies would have to be trained to staff the facility, approximately 30, and that training would take several months. There is even talk of creating a POST program at the facility to train future officers.
Chris Steinlicht, county clerk, expressed concern at the meeting on the increased demands the proposed facility would place on county personnel. Steinlicht was told that the hiring of a full-time county employee would be added into the contract to remove added burden on the current employees.
County Commissioner Vicki Meadows said building the new facility was a good idea.
“We have to do something,” Meadows said. “We can’t (keep) current to jail standards.”
Meadows said the jail is constantly exceeding the maximum number of inmates allowed by the state. She added that the county has worked with RMC for nearly one year and the option of building a much bigger facility to bring in state inmates was the only option that made financial sense.
“This is a one-time opportunity to partner up with the state and help out the local government and taxpayers,” Jeffries said. “Our goal is to make the jail self-sufficient without going to the taxpayers for funds.”
Meadows suggested that all interested parties host a booth at the annual Search and Rescue Salmon Barbecue on Saturday, July 19, to explain the proposal to residents. Plans are also being made to host another booth on American Falls Day, Saturday, Aug. 9.