Jail certification means positive changes for SCSO

The Shoshone County Jail was subject to its yearly certification in early in May and the results were very surprising.

In years past the jail had met almost every specification necessary to become certifiable, except for the issue of jail staffing.

County jail standard 03.02 gives the exact definition of what the minimum staffing requirement for detention officers.

“Facilities shall be staffed with a minimum of two detention deputies at all times who have either been certified by POST or will be certified within one year of employment as a detention officer. Certified reserve deputies or similarly certified deputies such as road deputies may be used as the second deputy on a fill-in basis. Both deputies shall be physically capable of immediately responding to jail emergencies at all times.”

Well, a lot of things have changed over the last 12 months and one of them is that the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) and Jail has met the staffing requirement that had previously kept them from certification.

What makes this certification so important is the fact that having it allows the Shoshone County Jail to house State and Federal inmates and be paid for it.

This seems like something that would be a no brainer as a priority, but achieving this goal was not a simple fix.

Shoshone County sheriff Mike Gunderson acknowledged the previous administration’s struggle with this situation, but also realized that fixing the problem was going to be one of his top priorities.

“It came to a willingness to fix some of the problems and move forward,” Gunderson said. “I am not speaking for the previous administration, but I think when you are generating revenue for the county and not getting anything in return it gets frustrating.”

What the sheriff means by that previous statement had to do with the fact the jail had been certified before, but after not being able to use any of the generated funds, the emphasis on certification fell by the wayside as the funding for the SCSO tightened up.

Gunderson had made the recertification one of the big promises from his campaign and he made it happen five months into his tenure after being told it couldn’t happen.

“It’s such a revenue maker for us, and everyone said it would never happen,” Gunderson said. “A lot of the change was just philosophy. We are trying to find different avenues to make this area successful and this was one of them.”

The jail is poised to make between $250,000 and $300,000 this year.

The jail was found to be in compliance with every mandatory standard, but came up short in one of the recommended standards that has to do with the jail’s nutrition program.

Inspector Cindy Malm was very pleased to give the jail her recommendation for certification.

“The recommended standard that is not within compliance is within the allowable amount and you were not out of compliance on any of the mandatory standards,” Malm said. “Therefore I am very excited to recommend the Shoshone County Jail for a 2017 Certificate of Compliance.”

Shoshone County commissioner Mike Fitzgerald was very pleased with Malm’s request for certification and discussed why this was important for the county.

“Jail certification is important to the county on multiple fronts,” Fitzgerald said. “It gives us the confidence that our facility meets the minimum standards for care and safety. And, it provides us with opportunities to gain additional revenue by housing State inmates.”