COWLITZ COUNTY, WA - The Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously agreed to house the state's local parole violators in the Cowlitz County Jail. Under the deal, the state will pay $60 per inmate for each day they spend in the county lockup.

Officials said the agreement with the Washington state Department of Corrections will help get violators off the streets while earning extra revenue, which could be used to renovate the old jail on the third floor of the Hall of Justice.

Dan Price, the county corrections department's executive director, said his staff probably will start housing the state violators later this summer when the county's new jail is complete. With 220 beds in the old jail and 306 beds in the new facility, Price said there will be room to house the parole violators locally. He said the new jail can be expanded to 454 beds if necessary.

The state inmates will be placed in the old jail, which also will also house work-release inmates, provided they are not too great a security risk, Price said. Riskier offenders will be placed in the new jail.

State DOC officials have asked the county to house 60 inmates initially. County officials plan to hire about seven more staff, including five corrections officers, a cook and a clerk, to handle the load. The staff could be increased to a total of 14, Price said. County officials would pay for all of the new employees using state money.

"It's a totally self-sufficient program as far as finance goes," Price said.

Officials said there are 36 inmates in the jail this week who committed recent crimes, but also have some sort of state violation on their records. Until now, many local parole violators have been given "a stern warning" instead of time behind bars because state prisons are full, County Commissioner Jeff Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said local offenders will be given priority for jail beds and the state parole violators will all be from the area.

"We're not importing inmates," he said. "These are folks that are already living in Cowlitz County."