Jail costs keep going up

In less than three weeks, on May 24, voters will go to the polls to decide the fate of a $7.5 million bond that would build a new jail for Elmore County.

The sheriff and county commissioners believe the county no longer has any choice. The old jail, rated as the worst in the state, must be replaced, they say, and it won't get cheaper.

When the first effort to build a new jail was first proposed in 1992, the facility would have housed all of the city police and county sheriff's departments, plus an expanded jail, and would have cost $4.5 million.

After three failed attempts to build a jail since that time, the proposal that goes to the voters May 24 will essentially house only a jail and dispatch center (the sheriff and deputies will stay in the building they currently occupy), and the total cost has risen to $7.5 million.

Although the proposed facility is expected to only handle the growth needs of the county for the next 15-20 years, it is designed to be capable of being expanded in the future to double its currently proposed capacity of 136 beds.

The last attempt to pass a jail bond occurred last November, but failed by a slim margin. That bond also was for $7.5 million, but the county had built in a large "pad" into the budget for contingencies. This time, after an estimated $800,000-plus increase in construction costs since last November, the commissioners decided to hold the line on the total cost and reduce the contingency "pad" to a mere $165,000.

"With the way costs are going up," county clerk Gail Best said, "that may not be enough. We had a cushion last time, but we don't have very much this time. Just since last November, we've had an increase in costs of just under 10 percent, and next year, building costs will probably go up at least another ten percent."

The bond would be paid off in 15 years, Best said. Because the county's assessed valuation has been growing at a rate of about $100 million a year for the last five years, the first year will see the highest levy rate for the bond. Further increases in assessed valuation will reduce the levy rate as the bond is paid off, Best noted.

The initial levy, for a $100,000 home with a homeowner's exemption, is estimated (at the present assessed valuation of the county) to be $4.08 cents a month. That's about the same amount of money a home of that value would pay to the Mountain Home Rural Fire Protection District.

"Really, that's not a lot to pay for the security of your family," Best noted, echoing statements made by Sheriff Rick Layher.

Layher, who says the current jail no longer meets modern minimum "humane" standards for a jail, and is so old some of the locks don't work properly and replacement parts can't be found, has expressed concerns about the safety of his jailers, the safety of the community if a prisoner were to escape, the fact that more than 40 people sentenced to jail are running loose in the community waiting for a space to serve their time, and the likelihood that some prisoner will decide to sue the county over the substandard jail conditions.

"I really don't want to make some criminal rich," he explained.

If the jail were to be closed down, the county would have to send all of its prisoners to some other county's jail, at a cost of $45 per day, plus medical and transportation costs. On average, every prisoner currently housed in some other county's jail must be transported to and from Elmore County about five times, and each trip costs up to $80 in fuel costs and wages for the jailers who must make the trip.

"If we had to do that for everybody, it would be very expensive," Best noted.

The county's general fund levy is about two-thirds of the maximum allowed by the state, and although the justice fund, which pays for the jail and the Sheriff's Department, is slightly higher than the general fund levy, "it's still less than the maximum," Best said.

"Rick's always held the line, trying to keep costs to taxpayers down. He's done an extremely good job, for example, of managing his personnel costs, even though he'd clearly like to have more people on staff."

Personnel costs will go up, if the new jail is built. As the jail fills up, more jailers will be needed, even though the jail is designed to maximize the efficiency of staff and hold down costs. But in the end, it will increase the personnel costs in his budget by about $200,000, when all the additional jailers eventually are hired.

Security for the community will be better, Best said. "I know Rick has put every bandaid he can" on the old jail.

"I'm as frugal as they come," the county clerk added, "but we have to have the new jail, or it will really cost the taxpayers money in the long run.

"We could get sued by a prisoner. A prisoner could escape, injure someone, and we could get sued. Or, the courts could just order us to go ahead and build one," a rare move but one that usually has to be paid for quickly, when it is ordered by the courts, meaning the annual cost to taxpayers would be much higher than that on a 15-year bond.

"I'm really worried about the lawsuits," Best said. "There's a lawsuit waiting to happen every day over there right now, and it's not because they (the prisoners) aren't being taken care of as well as possible, it's because of the inadequacies of the facility. They need an adequate facility to take care of these people, properly."

Best encouraged voters to register for the May 24 election. Citizens can register at the county courthouse. Bring two forms of ID, such as a driver's license and a recent bill showing your current address.

Absentee balloting also is available currently at the courthouse, or citizens can request, in writing, that an absentee ballot be sent to them.