SCSO asks voters for new jail

WALLACE — The only initiative available for Shoshone County residents to mull over on the upcoming Nov. 5 ballot is the one that would give the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office a new home if approved.

Spearheaded by Shoshone County Sheriff Mike Gunderson, the initiative will ask residents whether they are in favor of or against approving a $22,444,685 bond that would pay for the construction of a modern public safety building in Wallace.

This new 32,000-square-foot structure would include a new Sheriff’s Office, 911 center and jail facility. It would be constructed on Frontage Road next to Spunstrand Inc.’s Factory in Wallace. Shoshone County would purchase the land from the current owner with funds included in the bond.

Since the proposed bond was first announced, Sheriff Gunderson has been working hard to get his message out to the constituency. The decision to push for a new building was a calculated one for him, initially spurred by his assessment of the office’s aging and obsolete infrastructure.

“Our facility is getting outdated,” Gunderson explained in an earlier interview. “Between the standards for keeping jail certification and keeping up with a changing society, it’s difficult.”

Before a decision was made to push for a new building, SCSO considered other alternatives with the help of outside consulting agencies.

PLI Inc., a Coeur d’Alene-based law enforcement contractor, was hired in 2018 to conduct a top-to-bottom inspection of the current Public Safety Building and identify both its strengths and weaknesses.

Originally built in the 1970s as a used car lot, the current/repurposed Public Safety Building is much smaller in comparison to neighboring facilities — such as the Kootenai County Jail — and lacks several modern upgrades.

The nearly 40-page report presented by PLI Inc. detailed several glaring deficiencies noticed during their inspection — many of which relate back to the building’s decrepit state and outdated design.

From electrical and sewage problems to an unsafe jail layout and lack of basic facilities — problems were identified everywhere. Details of the report can be found in the SNP story “Shoshone County Jail gets put under the microscope” on www.shoshonenewspress.com.

Once these issues had been identified, the priority then shifted to determining what could be done about them.

With the help of Lombard/Conrad Architects, pricing for three possible options was established.

The first option would be to rehabilitate the building (no expansion), which would come with a base cost of $9 million. Gunderson explains that this option was decided against because during this proposed remodel, current inmates would have to be held in another facility that could take them for a price.

“They take about a year to do that,” Gunderson said of the remodel. “Well in that year, we have to house everybody separately.”

This means that Shoshone County would have to pay an outside agency $80 per inmate to house them, making the total rehabilitation price closer to $11-12 million.

The second option of replacing the current facility with a brand new one at the same location was also decided against for largely the same reason as the first option. When including the cost to house inmates in another facility, replacement would cost roughly $17-18 million and the new building would have to be the exact same size as the last one due to limited space.

The final option of a new building at a new location will cost $22 million-plus and, according to Gunderson, allow SCSO the opportunity to help pay off the bond quicker.

The proposed designs of the new Public Safety Building would call for a 98-bed jail facility — upgraded to modern designs — as opposed to the current 48-bed jail. Gunderson explains that a larger jail allows for SCSO to hold more out-of-county inmates and in-turn, bring in more money.

SCSO has already signed an intent letter with the Idaho Department of Corrections saying they would house 30 inmates at the new facility at $75 a day.

“The Board of County Commissioners has agreed to pay at least 60% of that revenue that’s generated on housing state inmates back directly to the bond,” Gunderson explained. “Even with the minimum of $250,000 a year going toward the bond (we’re projecting it to be double that at some point in time), but even at $300,000 that’s about $5 million in 15 years. The bond payment is about $1 million a year, so there’s $15 million. So your talking $15 million plus $5 million — there’s your $20 million in half the time. They’re projecting with principal and interest, they’re hoping they can pay that bond back for the taxpayers within 12-15 years, not the originally stated 30.”

Once the bond is paid off, 100% of the revenue generated by holding state inmates will go directly to the county’s general fund, where it can be used to pay for other county projects and departments.

The inmates that would be taken from the state would be returned to where they came from when their sentences were winding down. Gunderson stresses that none of them would be released into the local community.

As for the proposed building’s appearance, artist renderings show that the exterior would be modeled to fit the historic theme of the area. Gunderson explains that the architects drew inspiration for the design from other local buildings in Wallace and the finished product would look more like a school than a jail.

“It certainly will look much less like a jail than the current building that sits at the east entrance of town.”

One of the biggest factors for this decision was the possibility of losing the jail’s certification.

With a certified jail, SCSO can have contracts with state and federal agencies to hold their inmates for a price. Gunderson stresses that if nothing is done soon, the building will most likely lose its certification within the next six months.

The primary reason for this loss of certification would come from overpopulation and an inability to meet classification standards.

Gunderson explains that the current cells range in size from four to 10 people depending on classification (i.e. male, female, special hold). More often than not though, jail staff is forced to keep as high as double those numbers in each pod.

Jails must also house their inmates separately based on classification. The current facility lacks suitable areas for certain individuals, such as transgender inmates, mentally ill inmates, juveniles and sex offenders.

If the certification is lost, Gunderson said that not only would SCSO not be able to house state inmates, they also would have to eventually pay another jail to house local inmates out-of-county until something could be done.

New jail features that are not present in the current building include a juvenile holding area, dedicated separate cell blocks for men and women, several intake rooms (one padded), a command center to control most of the doors, and much more.

Areas found in the old building, such as office spaces, evidence rooms, a dispatch center and front entry lobby would all be present — but all of these areas would be drastically improved and expanded in the new building.

The current structure has the communications room set as the heart of the building. It’s from here where dispatchers not only handle 911 calls and dispatch emergency personnel, but also control the doors of the attached jail and have a direct look into the intake area.

In the new proposed building design, communications will no longer have to handle jail duties, as the jail section would be completely controlled by a separate control room.

“The design of the old building has the booking center in dispatch, so if you have a combative inmate or someone screaming and yelling, that dispatcher can’t hear the radio and can’t hear 911 callers,” Gunderson said.

For those who wish to see the full jail assessment conducted by PLI Inc., a copy can be obtained from the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office or the Shoshone County Board of County Commissioners in the courthouse.