Savannah Perkins

By Savannah Perkins

Space for inmates is scarce in Franklin County causing new county collaborations to form. Tuesday evening the Cache County Council passed an inter-local agreement allowing Franklin County inmates to stay at the Cache County Jail.

The agreement shows the county’s support of the ongoing pursuit to house inmates and allows the formation of contracts between Cache County and Franklin County to continue.

“I’m excited,” said Chad Jensen, the Cache County sheriff.  “I think this is a great thing for us to be able to do because it is a great resource for us and we have the bed space in our jail to be able to take them. I think we should fill it up with as many inmates as we can.”

Jensen is hoping after county attorneys from both Franklin and Cache meet this week, the contracts will be finalized and signed within weeks.

Franklin County Sheriff David Fryar said it is all still in the beginning stages of this cooperation and no contracts have been signed, just discussed.

"With the Justice Reinvestment Initiative and lowering some of the penalties on some of our drug offenses, there aren't as many prisoners in the jail as what we have had in the past," said Craig Buttars, the Cache County executive.

With room in the jail and the potential revenue benefits, Jensen said he is very hopeful about this agreement and the cooperation between counties.

Depending on the number of inmates Cache County takes in, Jensen said the amount of additional revenue each year could be between $227,000 and $379,000.

Gordon Zilles, a Cache County Council member, discussed Caribou County’s efforts to support Franklin County by housing 20 inmates.

“We are not exactly sure what they are paying in Caribou County,” Jensen said. “It’s a bigger savings for Franklin because their transport is not as much but I think they worry a lot about their deputy’s safety during those transports.”

Jon White, a Cache County Council member, expressed concerns about transportation and housing costs. He said he would assume that Franklin County would pay for transportation but wanted to make sure it was clarified in the contract.

Jensen said housing costs would be around the same as if housing inmates for the state. “Our cost really doesn’t change whether we have 40 inmates or 100 inmates, the way that the jail is built,” he said.

Greg Merrill, the Cache County Council chairman agreed with Jensen on the benefits of this inter-local agreement. “It is a win-win for both counties,” he said.