Jerome Jail Vote Delayed

Jerome County voters will not be voting on a new jail bond this November.  Instead, and for the time being, that vote has been delayed by the Jerome County Commissioners to May 15^th of next year. 

The main reason the vote is being delayed is because there has been no site selected to build it if the bond should pass.  Jerome County Commissioners have said that’s one of the main reasons as to why the bond has been rejected by voters three times...because of the uncertainty of the location.  If the vote does take place in May, voters will be voting for a proposed bond about $2-million dollars less than the previous ones. The size has been pared down to about 120 beds instead of the 164 beds in the previous elections and the cost estimate is about $11-million instead of $13-million dollars in the previous elections.  Meanwhile, according to the Times News, the current county jail is probably going to fail another inspection by the Idaho Sheriff’s Association for being inadequate.  County officials say the jail will not receive the ISA certificate of compliance.  Meanwhile, the county continues to house the inmates that it can and at the same time pay for other inmates to be housed in other facilities.