Fremont County commissioners approve $10.6 million county jail expansion
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ST. ANTHONY — Following a 2-to-1 vote, Fremont County Commissioners will move forward with the expansion of the current Fremont County Jail.
The expansion will double occupancy of the 20-bed county facility to 40 beds.
Commissioners Blair Dance and Scott Kamachi voted in favor of the $10.6 million, two-story addition to the jailhouse during the March 22 meeting. Commission Chair Jordan Stoddard was the lone no vote on the project.
The jail expansion project has been kicked around Fremont County for a few years. County leaders say there is a need to increase bed capacity in the jail to help accommodate a current $7 million expansion being made to the St. Anthony Work Camp. Additionally, the state has mandated that Fremont County needs a better way to secure inmates going to and from the courthouse. They also would like to be able to house female inmates. Currently, the jail only holds male inmates due to space constraints.
The jail, located inside the Fremont County Law Enforcement Complex, is next to the courthouse. If the current plan goes forward, there would be a second-floor connection between the jail and the courthouse.
“The biggest thing we see is the overall demand for incarcerations,” Dance told EastIdahoNews.com. “It’s one of the few industries that seems to continuously grow on a consistent basis. We have the St Anthony Work Camp doing a major expansion themselves, and with those thoughts in mind, it appeared that we would have sufficient demands for the extra beds. Looked to me like we had a viable revenue source that would help fund the expansion.”
The county is betting on increased revenue from the expansion and looking to rent 35 of the 40 beds after the expansion is completed, according to public records. Income estimates obtained by EastIdahoNews.com show that if the county can rent 35 Fremont County Jail beds to the Idaho Department of Correction, it could earn $945,000 a year. Another income estimate shows that if the county can rent just 10 beds to the IDOC and another 25 beds to the surrounding counties, it could earn $678,500 a year.
According to additional information obtained by EastIdahoNews.com through a public records request, the county anticipates more than doubling its operational expenses for the jail with the expansion. Currently, operational expenses run at $122,500 every year for 20 jail beds. The new estimated operational costs for the expansion will cost $256,500, and this will include hiring two more staff people for the additional 20 beds.
Kamachi said in a phone interview that this was the most cost-effective expansion plan presented to the commission.
“When we go to build a project, we know it’s tough on our constituents,” Kamachi said. “Nonetheless, we don’t have a choice in this situation,” he said.
He said the county needed to come into better compliance with state standards that include more secure transport of inmates to and from the courthouse.
Kamachi said the commission was presented with three construction options ranging from a high of $18 million that would have included a sheriff’s office upgrade, to the low end at $10.6 million.
“We are not taking the biggest option,” Kamachi said. “We need to prioritize projects, so we are aiming for the biggest bang for our success. I would have loved to have the bigger options, but if we are operating in a responsible way, we need to fulfill what we need, and this will be a great solution.”
Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries said an audit of the jail by the Idaho Supreme Court last year identified several issues with its security.
“As a result of that audit, we knew we would have to address these issues,” Humphries said. “We do the best we can and have had no escapes or attempted escapes, but the potential is there.”
How the project will be funded remains to be seen as commissioners will work through the budgeting details over the next six to 12 months, said Kamachi. The hope, he said, is to take out a loan that is bolstered reserve county funds coupled with cost savings found after the expansion is built and earned revenue from renting out jail beds. Kamachi estimates that more than $60,000 a year could be saved by housing inmates in-house with the additional space rather than paying rent to Madison County Jail or other facilities.
Humphries said most of the costs incurred through renting beds at other facilities are due to Fremont not being able to house female inmates. He also said that although work camp inmates are occasionally housed in the Fremont County Jail, the county will have the capacity to take more inmates from the St. Anthony Work Camp.
According to county budget information, the Fremont County Jail currently nets between $100,000 and $130,000 a year in its 20-bed facility.
Still, county officials anticipate offsetting the increased operational costs by housing more inmates from other jurisdictions, including the Idaho Department of Correction and surrounding smaller counties.
Planning documents show Fermont County would try to pay off its loan at about $750,000 per year. The term of the loan and the interest rate have not yet been determined.
“I have never been in favor of going out for a bond levy, and that’s not what we are planning on doing,” Humphries said. “I felt there was money that could pay for that expansion. Madison and Jefferson paid for their jail expansions, so this is not anything new or earth-shattering.”
Although the Fremont County Courthouse is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, the jail itself was built later by a bond and is not on the registry.
Commission Chair Jordan Stoddard did not return repeated requests for comment.
MORE INFORMATION
Sheriff’s Office & Detention Facility Expansion Concept Plan