Blaine County broke ground on a new public safety facility in May 2007. Construction is finally underway on a project that has taken over a decade to realize. The projected 36,000 square foot facility includes a new detention facility, Sheriff’s offices and consolidated dispatch center. The new facility will be located a 3.23 acre parcel on Hailey’s Aviation Drive below the airport bench. The Jail will have 64 beds with the ability to house an additional 14 male work release inmates and 6 female work release inmates. The new facility will also have holding cells for both male and female juvenile inmates which are currently sent to other facilities. Additionally the new jail will provide space for rehabilitative programs, education or instruction in self-management for critical thinking or drug abuse.



Getting to this point has been a long journey as bond issues for a new facility were rejected in 1990, 1995 and 1996 by voters resisting higher real estate taxes. In November 2006 Blaine County voters finally passed a ballot measure allowing for the construction of the new facility which utilizes both bond funding and existing county revenues.

The current facility was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union in 1990 for poor conditions and only continues to operate under federal court order. Among other things, it is overcrowded and lacks adequate space for food preparation, visitation and medical services. It is generally unsafe with security deficiencies for both inmates and guards. Overcrowding is the biggest problem. Six cells hold 26 beds for an average 30-40 daily inmate population. Jail codes specify that sick inmates be separated from healthy ones, high-risk inmates from medium-low-risk ones, and juveniles and females from adult males. Inmates who cannot be accommodated locally must be housed elsewhere and transported back and forth by county personnel for court appearances, all at County expense. Females and juveniles are not held in the jail.

“We are working very hard to create a facility that will provide for the county’s needs into the future,” says Sheriff Walt Femling. “It is important that we create a safe environment for inmates and deputies today that includes responsible planning for Blaine County’s population growth.” The new facility is projected to open in July 2008.