Bingham County Commission Chairman Whitney Manwaring in February reviewed the county’s achievements from last year and its goals moving forward at a Greater Blackfoot Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Some of the county achievements Manwaring mentioned for 2023 were fully staffing the county’s Planning and Information Technology departments, distributing Narcan kits to county schools, establishing an ambulance in Shelley and deeding the south part of the North Bingham County Park to Shelley.

However, another main focus Manwaring mentioned was the remodeling of the courthouse and the jail expansion, of which both projects are greatly needed. There have been significant issues with the current system for intaking offenders, providing safer attorney consultations, being compliant with federal standards, having sufficient room for clerks, securing election equipment, and having enough beds for all those convicted of felonies by the court.

The courthouse portion of the project included an electrical upgrade, ADA compliant bathrooms on the first and second floors, expanding and improving courtroom 5, expanding and remodeling the district court clerk office and turning the no longer needed indigent services office into a secured storage room for election equipment. These improvements started last May and are estimated to be completed by the end of the year.

To save money, these improvements were included in the jail expansion design and construction, as additional projects that could be done with their onsite crews. However, the funding for the courthouse portion is being drawn from the court facility budget, the consolidated elections funds and Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) savings.

Meanwhile the jail expansion project’s construction was started in July of 2023, but stalled out because officials discovered the plans called for the new addition to be installed above a high-pressure gas line. Redesigning the plans was necessary.

The county moved the addition over 12 feet which meant downsizing one of the inmate living pods from 30 beds to 28. This brings the new addition’s bed count to 73, which means the new jail facility will now have a total occupancy capacity of 174 inmates.

Does the county need that many more beds? Watching incarceration numbers increase over the last five years, the county became aware of the growing need for more beds for local offenders. In 2021, the county paid $8,000 dollars to house inmates in other jails because it was at capacity. That number jumped dramatically in 2022 when the county paid $32,000 in housing costs. This was a wakeup call, even though it was apparently a result of catching up on court hearings after COVID. The yearly cost for extra housing dropped in 2023 to $4,000.

With available American Rescue Plan Act funds and with projections of needing about 50 more beds for local offenders in the next decade or two, the expansion project was born.

While inmate housing has been a drain on the county budget, the reverse will happen when the expansion is completed. At that point the county can light the vacancy sign and other overflowing jails can pay the county to house their inmates. The standard housing fee is $55 per day per inmate.

To some extent this is already happening. The state averages housing about 18 inmates in the county each month while they await transport to a state prison. The state pays the standard $55 per day per inmate for the first seven days. Should it take longer, the state then pays $75 per day.

Additionally, to ensure it can reap maximum revenue return on its extra beds, the county is also negotiating with the U.S. Marshals to house federal offenders.

After the gas line speed bump, construction resumed and the new projected finish date is spring 2025. The funding needed for the expansion is from the bulk of the county’s approximately $9 million in ARPA funds but may also need some PILT assistance.

What exactly will the expansion add to the jail complex? Three more pods, each of which include a common room with tables for gathering and eating and a separate living quarters area with all the beds and a semi-private bathroom and shower. Federal standards require a square foot minimum for each inmate which dictates how many beds each pod contains. This expansion will have one pod with 30 beds, one with 28 beds due to the gas line downsizing, and one pod with 15 beds. For perspective, the current jail has 5 pods of various sizes to house 101 inmates.

The expansion will also add two more individual holding cells and add a bathroom to the larger existing eight person holding cell. And, the attorney consulting rooms are being redesigned to have two entrances and a safety glass separation.

Of course, along with the new pods there needs to be expanded camera coverage and control center monitoring — which also means about 20 more officers. Staffing, in today’s employment market, may be the hardest part of the expansion. So far, the county has hired four officers.

Fortunately, the county had updated the food services area just 10 years ago and it is still sufficient for the expansion. Additionally, the laundry capacity has been slowly being upgraded to larger capacity machines through the county’s regular budget.

Beyond the jail expansion, Bingham County’s goals for 2024 include assisting with a new animal shelter in Blackfoot, using opioid settlement funds to establish the Center for Hope South, continuing to hire and train staff to fill each department, adjusting the Comprehensive Plan to acknowledge the current growth and negotiating an Area of Impact agreement with the City of Blackfoot.

To date, the Center for Hope has opened doors and preliminary plans are started on the possible county and city joint animal shelter project.

All of these projects and plans contribute to the vision of the county that Manwaring expressed at the Chamber luncheon, in that “Bingham County is a healthy, safe, and fun place to live and work.”