Asotin County officials are advertising for an architect and consulting firm to help with plans for a new jail.
County commissioners are looking for a firm that can target a location, provide conceptual drawings, and give recommendations on future staffing. A jail advisory committee, made up of government officials, law enforcement, and community members, was formed in 2018 to review the need for a jail. Months later, the panel determined the current jail is operating in “a crisis mode” and has become a significant community issue.
The group’s goal is to formulate a plan to build a new jail that would last for more than 60 years and have the ability to be expand in the future. The current facility in Clarkston was built in 1984 for 16 people.
Today, the average jail population is about 50, with no room at the site for any type of expansion. (Lewiston Tribune)
