Idaho inmates could soon be headed to Utah

Convicts from Idaho might soon be crossing state lines into Utah — and officials from both sides of the border say the matter is a “win-win.”

With space for inmates scarce in Franklin County, in southern Idaho, and criminal justice reform laws contributing to a decrease in inmates in northern Utah, the Cache County Council passed an interlocal agreement on Tuesday allowing the neighboring county’s inmates to stay at the Cache County Jail — for a price.

“I’m excited,” said Chad Jensen, the Cache County sheriff. “I think this is a great thing for us to be able to do because it is a great resource for us and we have the bed space in our jail to be able to take them. I think we should fill it up with as many inmates as we can.”

Jensen is hoping that, after county attorneys from both Franklin and Cache meet this week, the contracts will be finalized and signed within the month.

Franklin County Sheriff David Fryar reiterated that no contracts have yet been signed — just discussed.

But county executive Craig Buttars said the agreement, if finalized, would come at the right time for Cache County — about a year after Gov. Gary Herbert signed a law intended to reduce the state’s incarceration rates by lowering penalties associated with some crimes and working to decrease recidivism.

"With the Justice Reinvestment Initiative and lowering some of the penalties on some of our drug offenses, there aren't as many prisoners in the jail as what we have had in the past," Buttars said.

With room in the jail and the potential revenue benefits, Jensen said he is very hopeful about the agreement and the cooperation between counties.

Depending on the number of inmates Cache County takes in, Jensen said the amount of additional revenue each year could be between $227,000 and $379,000.

Gordon Zilles, a Cache County Council member, said the deal could look something like the arrangement Franklin County has with its neighbor to the north, Caribou County. Currently Caribou is housing 20 inmates, he said.

But it’s a 51 mile drive between the jails in Preston and Soda Springs. The trip from Preston to Logan is half that distance.

“We are not exactly sure what they are paying in Caribou County,” Jensen said. But the trip to Logan, he said, would be “a bigger savings for Franklin because their transport is not as much.”

And it would be potentially safer, too.

“I think they worry a lot about their deputies’ safety during those transports,” Jensen said.

Jon White, a Cache County Council member, expressed concerns about transportation and housing costs. He said he would assume that Franklin County would pay for transportation but wanted to make sure it would be clarified in the contract.

Jensen said housing costs would be around the same as if housing inmates for the state. “Our cost really doesn’t change whether we have 40 inmates or 100 inmates, the way that the jail is built,” he said.

Greg Merrill, the Cache County Council chairman, agreed with Jensen on the potential benefits of the agreement.

“It is a win-win for both counties,” he said.