Expert: County needs new jail

In 1978, the Idaho Sheriff's Association passed the Idaho Sheriff's Jail Standards as suggested guidelines for the treatment of prisoners.

Inspectors visit each county jail in the state twice every year to determine if it complies with the jail standards. Bill Lynn, the Idaho Sheriff's Association coordinator, has inspected the Elmore County jail ten times in the last five years.

"Based upon my years of inspecting jails across the state, it is my opinion that Elmore County has the third or fourth worst jail facility in the state of Idaho in relations to inmate and staff life safety," Lynn reported in a sworn affidavit.

"The jail does not meet the guidelines for square footage for inmates and for exercise.

"The jail does not have proper fire alarms, fire doors, sprinklers, or adequate space to remove and secure inmates in case of emergency.

"The failure of Elmore County jail to meet guidelines has a direct impact on the insurance premiums the county pays for liability exposure as the insurance company reviews the jail standards in creating the premiums."

Sheriff Rick Layher explains the county jail is unable to meet the standards because of size limitations, outdated design and construction.

The county jail was designed and built in 1973, five years before the current standards were adopted.

The facility has 18 bed spaces for inmates in a county of more than 28,000 residents. When the jail is full, the county must pay other counties to house the additional inmates.

The county currently has work release inmates in custody who are not supervised in the jail facility and have unmonitored access to employees and officers. The work release area is downstairs where many deputies have their offices. The inmates are not always secured and have the ability to overhear private conversations in the hallway.

The jail facility can only hold four female prisoners who must all bunk together. When there are more females, the county must pay to have the women held in other counties. The only other option is to reassign male prisoners to another wing and then place all the women in a separate wing that limits the amount of space the jail may use.

The basement, where the detectives work, is full of mold, leaks in the walls, and the sewer often backs up into the basement creating impossible work conditions.

The facility also is insufficient for local law enforcement purposes. The size of the public lobby is inadequate for receiving complaints from citizens on crimes that have occurred, for issuing drivers' licenses and the fingerprint area.

There is only one restroom to serve the public and the approximately 23 employees who use the building during the day.

The entire administration section consists of one open room, approximately 20'x20'. The dispatch area is approximately 130 square feet with two work areas.

There are no conference rooms, no interview rooms nor training rooms.

Parking is inadequate for staff and the public.

These are just some of the considerations the members of the jail committee are looking at as they strive to find an affordable solution that will meet the county's needs.