LOGAN — Building a new 464-bed jail would cost Cache County $17.7 million but likely would be the cheapest alternative for housing inmates 20 years down the road, according to a study presented Tuesday to the Cache County Council.

The study, presented by former Utah State Department of Corrections Deputy Director Ken Shulsen, is the first step in a long process of relieving some of the pressure on the county's current 81-bed facility.

Besides the 464-bed jail, Shulsen offered three alternatives to the council before suggesting a committee be formed to to decide which option would be best for the county. The alternatives included building a 344-bed, $15.6 million jail; a $13.3 million expansion of the current jail to 289 beds or keeping the jail as it is and sending surplus inmates to surrounding counties.

With profits from housing state inmates from the Department of Corrections, Shulsen said after 20 years the new jail's net costs would be $3.6 million, almost $200,000 less than keeping the current facility. Net costs for the 344-bed jail would run more than $4.9 million, the highest over 20 years. Net costs over 20 years for expanding the current jail would cost almost $4.5 million.

Because of better technology and design, the 464-bed facility could be run with a lower inmate-to-officer ratio.

"It is by far the best financial alternative to the county," Shulsen said.

The council took no action after hearing the study, but asked Shulsen to submit a list of people who could sit on the committee.

Shulsen was commissioned to study Cache County's options to housing inmates in the current 36-year-old jail after an sharp increase in the inmate population over the past few years and the recent escape of an inmate through the prison's laundry room ceiling.

Renovations in 1993 brought the jail to 81 beds but barely kept up with the county's increased inmate population.

"We were full when we moved in," said Cache County Sheriff's Lt. Von Williamson.

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While costing the most up-front, Shulsen estimates that for the first eight years, the 464-bed facility wouldn't cost the county anymore than it currently is spending on the 81-bed jail.

"You're in your eighth year of operations before that facility costs the county what you're paying now," Shulsen said.

The new jail would allow more room for state inmates that could be contracted from the Department of Corrections. Corrections pays county jails $43.07 a day to house state inmates. Several counties around the state have used funds from jail contracts with Corrections to fund new jails.


E-mail: djensen@desnews.com

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