He may have a bevy of demands during the 2002 Winter Games, but Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard is already planning for the week after the Olympics when he'll have to move 350 inmates to a new house.
A budget cut last year by Salt Lake County elected officials resulted in the impending closure of the Oxbow Jail in South Salt Lake, where hundreds of misdemeanor offenders serve their sentences.
The county figures it can save $1 million by mothballing, even temporarily, the Oxbow facility and transferring those inmates to the relatively new Salt Lake County Adult Detention Center.
Kennard said he's already making the preparations.
"A week after the Olympics, all of the prisoners will be out of the jail. We will shut it down by way of housing prisoners."
Oxbow has the laundry facilities that handle the clothing needs for anyone incarcerated in the Salt Lake County jail system, and the operation will continue and will be staffed by inmates, Kennard said.
"The only thing that will be mothballed is the jail cells and respective units."
Kennard said correctional workers at Oxbow will go on to work at the main Salt Lake County Jail. The staff experiences a 20 percent turnover rate about every six months.
The savings to the county will be in reduced personnel costs and the money it takes to run two facilities, Kennard said.
Because Oxbow has been declared as surplus property, the 500-bed facility is on the market, but county officials know it may be tough to sell.
"It is like a steel mill or a ski resort. It has a limited use and there are not a lot of buyers or sellers," Salt Lake County's Deputy Mayor Alan Dayton said.
While Kennard is not opposed to selling the jail for the right price so operations can be consolidated under one roof, he says he hopes the mayor and council realize the facility, or the beds it represents, could be in high demand in the coming years.
With the addition of 350 inmates from Oxbow, the Salt Lake County Adult Detention Center will have room for just 50 more inmates.
In the heat of the summer when crime typically peaks, it may make for a crowded situation, Kennard said. "We might have zero capacity. We'll have to start turning people away."
Dayton said the mayor's office wants to save $1 million with the closure of Oxbow but stressed the county intends to be flexible should bed space come in demand.
t-->E-MAIL: amyjoi@desnews.com