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Editor's note: This is the third in a series on the law enforcement center project for Chisago County that's in its design development phase.

The commissioners approved this to move forward, with an anticipated completion date for the final floor plan in November, according to Sheriff Todd Rivard.

This series started with a look-back at the five year history of discussions and planning measures involved in reviewing inmate space needs.

The second story in this series looked at an optional project using the existing jail just for a holding facility.

Number three in this series is about transport and board costs.

BY DENISE MARTIN

A transport officer employed by the sheriff's department takes off from the jail in Center City on a daily basis -- hauling an offender or convicted inmate somewhere there's space to detain him or her.

The Chisago County Jail has bed capacity of 58 inmates. The jail hit an average of 74 as long ago as 2004. Projections on numbers of inmates who might be sent elsewhere range from 50 to 100 on any given day, into the year 2012.

Brandon Thyen, jail administrator, said many of our county's offenders go to Washington County jail to be housed, due to proximity and because Chisago and Washington have a good relationship based on a coordinated radio system, among other things.

The 2008 rate at Washington County is $55 per day for males and $60 for females (supply and demand.)

This is much-improved over the 2004 average daily rate of $70.28, that Chisago County paid. This was skewed for one year due to one facility Chisago County used that had especially high rates.

The point is-- Chisago County has no real control over its expenses when it's at the mercy of the bed availability market.

The door opening, shuffling of inmates to other sites, and having personnel on the road is a less than ideal way to run a jail. "There's security concerns, staff stress," Captain Thyen added.

Chisago County has one fullsized van and one mini-van used for inmate transport, two squads with fulltime officers are also assigned along with one part time bailiff-transport staff member, with a car. Three additional squad cars are earmarked for busy days with lots of jail trips.

The jail staff have tried to predict what room-and-board and transport costs will be out into the future should there be no new jail built locally, but it's a tough thing to pin down.

For one thing, Thyen said the daily rate varies.

The Isanti jail room and board is $55 in 2008, Mille Lacs charges $50 and Polk County, Wisc. is $40. (The county only uses Wisc. when it is housing convicted offenders so state boundaries and extradition isn't a factor.)

Juvenile offenders are handled in a different way from those arrested and going through the courts system here as adults. And, some officials and citizens have asked why the county can't negotiate a good bulk rate and reserve beds for adults the same way juvenile beds are kept available in Lino Lakes.

Thyen responds, explaining that juveniles can only be in Chisago County jail for several hours. There is a great urgency to move them out and the only juvenile detention facility is Lino Lakes, where Chisago County has a minimal bed contract.

In dealing with adult offenders there's less urgency to find the space and they can be moved about with less bureaucracy. The county also doesn't need near the numbers of beds for juveniles that it needs for adult offenders. So if Chisago is off on its estimate and reserves one juvenile bed too many that's much less an impact than having, say, 25 adult beds too many reserved.

Thyen said another factor that affects jail bed space is that the legislature can change laws at any time.

"Who could have predicted the short termers would end up in county jail?" he said, referencing a state law that now requires prison inmates with six months or less left to finish their sentences in county jail. "We try to react when something comes down like that but to know in advance..." he trailed off.

Housing inmates in other counties means Chisago County money is going out of this area. In 2001 there were only four inmates regularly sent elsewhere and the cost was $94,000 for 1,635 days of boarding and transporting.

By 2007 the county was housing 41 inmates out-of-county. There were 15,010 total boarding days because there was no room at Center City's jail.

Captain Thyen also reminds citizens that each inmate doesn't equate to one transport trip.

One offender can require many round-trips between where he/she is housed and showing up for their required appearances in court.

Also when an offender is kept elsewhere on a Chisago County warrant there is a tight timeframe during which the law requires he appear in Chisago County court.

"We just try to be ready for the highs and the lows (population of inmates) and be prepared to transport them," Thyen said.

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