Future of Latah County jail unknown
Building fails to meet standards, according to sheriff
The Latah County Commissioners will meet Tuesday to discuss the future of the Latah County Jail, which is not meeting current Idaho fire and jail standards.
According to a Latah County news release, the Moscow Fire Department informed the county that the 51-year-old jail in Moscow had several issues regarding fire egress and fire suppression systems that need to be fixed.
“The Latah County Jail was built in 1973 according to the standards of the day, which is nowhere close to current jail standards,” Sheriff Richard Skiles wrote in the news release.
Skiles told the Daily News on Friday that the jail doors, for example, are not large enough to meet fire codes. Additionally, the electrical wiring in the building needs to be upgraded.
Skiles added that it has been a struggle to make sure inmates have enough space to meet Idaho jail standards.
Skiles said that over the years, the state has required more and more square-footage per inmate, which meant Latah County has had to remove beds and house fewer people in individual rooms.
Skiles said these problems are “probably fixable,” but doing so will cost significant time and money. The sheriff said he will seek bids from contractors to determine what those prices will be.
Skiles said his office will consider relocating the jail or building another one, but he warned those options will require an amount of money he is not sure the county can come up with.
He said building a jail is “immensely expensive.” Furthermore, it is unclear where the county would locate it. Skiles said most residents do not want a jail built next to their house.
If the county decides to make repairs to its existing jail, that may require the county to temporarily house the inmates in another location while construction is taking place.
This issue will be discussed at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Latah County Courthouse. A link to watch the commissioners meeting is available on the meeting agenda online at latahcountyid.gov/commissioners.
Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.
