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Back in October 2005 I posted a suggestion on my Whitecaps weblog. The post was titled Why Not A Regional Criminal Justice Center?. It suggested that Spokane County and Kootenai County work together to create a regional law enforcement custodial and training facility on the Washington-Idaho border.
In February 2006 The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, WA, asked me to write an op-ed piece in support of the proposal. It appeared on March 2, 2006, under the headline Bi-state effort answer to jail overcrowding. The headline completely neglected the training component of the facility.
Now, in November 2009, Canyon County Sheriff Chris Smith asks the question: Regional Jails – Has the Time Come?
Someday. Maybe.
If a joint use jail were built at state line, how could LCDC profit from it?
It will never fly.
On another note. I have on more than one occasion seen postings on local blogs about an offer made some years ago from the CDA Tribe to help fund a regional, Benewah County / Kootenai County Jail facility. Allegedly, K County turned a deaf ear.
Did this really take place. I’ve lived here for over 20 years and don’t recall this.
Comment by CDAShenanigans — November 13, 2009 @ 9:03 am
CDAShenanigans,
It seems to me that within the last few years I heard there were some informal discussions between the CdA Tribe and Kootenai County about putting a facility north of Worley. If those talks had been productive, we probably would not have seen the jail proposal on this November’s ballot.
Comment by Bill — November 13, 2009 @ 9:16 am