More than one-third of Idaho jails failed their inspections. Find out if your local jail is one of them.
Search InvestigateWest’s database of jail inspections for details on the conditions inside
Ben Wolfinger worked at the Kootenai County Jail for nearly 30 years and served two years as sheriff. Now, he inspects jails across the state, a service provided to sheriffs by the Sheriff’s Association. (Erick Doxey/InvestigateWest)
Most states inspect county jails annually to ensure the health and safety of people locked inside.
Idaho doesn’t.
Instead, jail inspections are voluntary. And they’re conducted by the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association — a nonprofit designed to advocate for the sheriffs who oversee those jails.
The sheriffs’ association, which is exempt from state public records law, denied InvestigateWest’s request for inspection reports. So we requested three years of inspections from each of the state’s 35 county jails and published them here.
Use the database below to find out if your local jail passed or failed its inspections. Even some jails that passed violated the association’s voluntary standards resulting in dangerous conditions for detainees. Details about the violations are found in the inspection reports.
Whitney Bryen reports on injustice and vulnerable populations for InvestigateWest. A journalist since 2010, she is dedicated to raising marginalized voices and holding power to account especially at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice.
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