In January, I had the opportunity to meet with Ryan Baxter, the owner of Modern Auto. We talked about my background and the issues facing our community. In these three videos, you will hear about some of these issues and the work that the Payette County Sheriff’s Office is doing to address them. In today’s video, we discuss staffing and jail facility concerns.
Staffing
The Payette County Sheriff’s Office has struggled with staffing throughout my career. The previous administration worked diligently to make improvements to recruit new employees and retain current employees. In 2019, I attended an intense five-month-long leadership course from the Northwestern Center for Public Safety called the “School of Police Staff and Command.” I wrote a research paper on employee recruitment and retention during this course. With the support of the Payette County Board of County Commissioners, I have implemented all the ideas generated from that research paper. Even though we have made many improvements, the Payette County Sheriff’s Office continues to struggle with staffing. In March 2024, we were down 14% of our budgeted positions. The Payette County Sheriff’s Office is hiring for the Jail, Dispatch, and Patrol divisions.
Jail Facility
The other issue that Baxter and I talked about was the ongoing jail facility issues. The original Payette County Jail was built in 1979 and expanded in 2000. The Payette County Jail currently has a maximum capacity of 69 inmates. Since the jail was expanded, Payette County has changed, and that has resulted in unanticipated needs inside the jail facility. The jail facility has inadequate housing units to hold women inmates, inmates needing protective custody, inmates with specific medical needs, segregation, and work release inmates. The Payette County Jail has consistently been overpopulated. As a result, the facility failed its 2023 Idaho Sheriff’s Association (ISA) jail inspection. We anticipate continuing to fail the ISA jail inspections until our facility can be expanded. The Payette County Jail Facility primarily holds defendants with felony crimes. Most defendants with misdemeanor crimes are not held in custody through their trial date. Inmates for the State of Idaho make up 15% – 20% of our population. The State’s inability to move inmates out of our facility contributes to our overpopulation issues.
The Payette County Sheriff’s Office works with the Payette County Prosecutor and judges to review our inmates’ cases and release inmates to pretrial release when appropriate. The Payette Sheriff’s Office and Payette County Probation Department offer alternative options for defendants. Judges can place defendants on pre-trial release, probation, and the Sheriff’s Inmate Labor Detail as alternatives to being held in custody.
The Payette County Board of County Commissioners and Payette County Sheriff’s Office have begun planning for a jail expansion. They will be looking for the community’s involvement to help plan for the future of our jail facility and how that will serve our community.