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| Minn. counties struggle to pay for empty jail cells |
| By minnesota.publicradio.org - Elizabeth Baier |
| Published: 12/19/2011 |
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St. Paul, Minn. — In the last decade, a boom in jail construction and dropping crime rates have left thousands of jail cells empty around Minnesota. The combination has left many counties in the state trying to figure out how to make money on this unused space. Each day, about a third of Minnesota's jail beds remain empty. As of Nov. 30, 3,001 of the state's 9,853 total beds were unoccupied, according to the state's Department of Corrections. In the last five years alone, 25 county jails have either been built or remodeled across Minnesota, according to the DOC. The jail construction boom happened in part because of state requirements that counties upgrade law enforcement facilities. This excess jail space means a loss in revenue for counties trying to pay for new jail construction. That's because counties pay each other to house inmates when their own facilities are at capacity. While some counties have talked about closing their jails, there's no easy solution to the issue of empty space, said Jeff Spartz, former Hennepin County commissioner and president of the Minnesota Association of Counties. "There's a reluctance to close a jail even if you aren't operating at its most efficient point," he said. "Things could change in a couple years and then we've got a large expense to open it up again, and we're subject to a lot of criticism." Regional cooperation is key, Spartz said. But even that's tricky, because counties are likely to disagree on the logistics needed to work cooperatively. "Think about it," he said. "In a smaller county seat, how important it can be for the welfare of that community to have the jail there. It represents lots of relatively high-paying jobs. I've been in a couple of county seats where if the county courthouse were to disappear and be moved into the middle of the next county, I think the town would die." The state's newest county jail in Houston County in southeastern Minnesota is among those struggling to fill its facility. It opened in late October at a price tag of $17 million. But the debate over whether to build that new jail has long divided residents of Houston County. Doug Ely inherited the jail issue when he was elected sheriff in 2007. Read More. |
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