MINOT, N.D. (AP) - Jail overcrowding has spread beyond the Bakken.
Rolette County Sheriff Rodney Trottier said earlier this month that the county commission there is in the very early stages of planning for a possible jail expansion.
Trottier said the increased need in Rolla could be due to a number of different factors.
Some is overflow from the reservation, since non-Indians normally can’t be held in reservation jails. Other people may be unable to make bail, so they end up serving jail sentences instead of bonding out. More people may be sentenced to a stint in jail due to failure to pay child support. On the second or third offense of failing to pay child support, judges may sentence those people to a brief stint in the county jail. If the parents are unable to pay the support, they may serve the sentence rather than paying their child support obligation.
Bottineau County Sheriff Steve Watson said Tuesday that the Bottineau County Commission is also in the early stages of looking at a potential jail expansion.
Currently, the Bottineau County Jail has eight jail cells and one holding cell. The commission is looking at the feasibility of adding more beds, the Minot Daily News (https://bit.ly/1wJmOmb ) reports.
“It’s something we have to look at due to the influx that are coming here,” said Watson.
Watson said people are moving to the area from all over the country in search of the economic prosperity that North Dakota has offered. In his own hometown of Maxbass, two new families just moved in, said Watson, who said he used to know everyone in the Bottineau area and can’t say that any longer.
With the additional people comes more crime and also more civil action. The Sheriff’s Office might be asked to serve summons or complaints to residents whose bills haven’t been paid or who are being called into court for other matters.
Watson said he has noticed an increase in thefts and property crimes, which are also sometimes linked to meth or other drug offenses.
“The crime element has gone up all over,” said Watson. “It’s not just Rolette County, it’s not just Ward County. I used to be able to say what I was going to do that day when I came through the door; now the day tells me what I’m going to do.”
Watson said he hopes the commission does decide to expand the Bottineau County Jail.
The Ward County Jail in Minot is also overcrowded due to the increased population in the region and is about to undergo an expansion. Ward County Sheriff Steve Kukowski said he wants up to date estimates to be used in building the expansion so that it will accommodate future growth. The jail was housing 139 inmates Tuesday in a facility designed for 104.
Kukowski surveyed area sheriffs in August about their space concerns and reported to the Ward County Commission that lack of space is a concern all over the state. Some counties have resorted to housing their inmates in jails around the state because of lack of room or being short-staffed. In some cases, judges have avoided sentencing people to jail, according to Kukowski’s report.
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Information from: Minot Daily News, https://www.minotdailynews.com
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