YAKIMA, WA - Yakima County's Corrections Department on Tuesday ended a six-month test run of the new, $21 million jail next to State Fair Park to test its operating systems.

The 115 male inmates housed at the new jail during the test run were transferred back to the minimum-security jail on South 18th Street in Union Gap.

The county can't open the jail at the fairgrounds permanently because it lacks the money to operate the 288-bed facility.

Closure of the jail is a sore point with a group of King County cities that signed contracts to house up to 340 inmates in Yakima County.

The cities contend the contract with the county requires their inmates be housed in the new jail. But county officials counter the cities have not provided enough low- and medium-security inmates to fill the jail and cover its costs.

County commissioners authorized $100,000 to pay for the jail shakedown.  In a news release, the county said the test disclosed problems with computers, water pressure, heating and air conditioning, roof leaks and malfunctions in the control system. Those problems have been fixed, the release said.