FARMINGTON -- In-take facilities used to process incoming jail inmates often become "very crowded,"especially since they were designed for a 192-cell jail that now sometimes houses 550.

That's the contention of Sheriff Bud Cox and jail officials, as they spread the word about needs for approval of a $24.8 million general obligation bond issue. Voters will have the chance to voice their opinion on that option as part of the Nov. 2 general election.

"With law enforcement personnel accompanying arrestees, the entrance/exit sequence becomes very crowded, Cox says. "The intake facilities also serve as waiting areas for non-violent arrestees while awaiting formal booking.

"Currently the jail books approximately 190 inmates per week, far more than the facility was originally intended to handle," he says.

Because of lack of space, the sheriff said "all arrestees, from petty thieves to potentially violent felons, are held together while waiting for booking and processing. All booking and processing functions place arrestees within unsafe proximity to jail clerical staff and expensive electronic equipment."

With two individual holding cells for extremely violent detainees and one padded cell for suicidal arrestees, the sheriff said "additional individual holding cells are needed to provide more physical separation of detainees from jail personnel, and the segregation of detainees by the seriousness of their offense."

Safety of jail staff and law enforcement officers is at risk without more intake facilities, he said.

The jail also operates a work center under a 10-year contract with the U.S. Marshals Service, which expires in 2009. At that time, the county will own the work center.

Some 120 federal inmates can be housed in the county jail with the federal government paying $2.2 million for construction of the work center where low-risk inmates participate in a work/release or inmate worker program.

The county does not plan to pursue long-term contracts such as the work center plan, said Sheriff Cox. "(The county) sees an opportunity to recoup operating and maintenance costs through offering beds (on an 'as available' basis) to government agencies."

Because housing these inmates will not require extra infrastructure or staff re-sources, said Capt. Bob Yeaman, who oversees jail operations, money to help cover the fixed costs of jail operation is available.

A similar program in Weber County has provided about $3.8 million revenue to help cover jail operation costs, he said. "The feds have been very cooperative about working with jail staff to accommodate the current overcrowding situation to help ensure safety and security for both staff and inmates,"the sheriff said.

tbusselberg@davisclipper.com