Ketchum Based Company Plans to Build Jail in N. Idaho

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A central Idaho company has proposed building a 621-bed jail in Kootenai County in northern Idaho. The Spokesman-Review reports that Ketchum-based Facilities Management LLC/Rocky Mountain Corrections on Wednesday told county officials it wants to build the facility in the next two years and lease it to the sheriff's office.

The company says the county would spend less on jail operations than it does now and could lease extra cells to other jurisdictions. Sheriff Ben Wolfinger is backing the idea. He says the jail could house all the county's prisoners plus several hundred from other areas. Voters in Kootenai County have rejected three bond measures to build a new jail.