Jail features rooftop 'lounge'

PRESTON, Idaho (AP)— Normally, prisoners lounging on the rooftop of a courthouse would be cause for alarm. In Franklin County, it's just business as usual.

A rusted metal cage, installed in 1985, acts as an outdoor lounge for inmates housed in the Franklin County Jail, said jail supervisor Gary McKenzie. Prisoners occupy their time between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. by reading, exercising, sleeping, watching television and playing cards either inside or outside on the building that still maintains the feel of a small-town jail of the past.

Inmates spend the other 10 hours of the day inside one of the four jail cells, each secured by steel doors riveted into the cement walls. The small, white-walled rooms are complete with two or three beds, a toilet, a sink, a shower and a security camera. Each inmate is supplied with an orange jumpsuit, toiletries, commissary and requested reading material.

"They have a lot of time," Franklin County Sheriff Don Beckstead said.

The correctional facility, located on the fourth floor, was built in 1939 when the courthouse was erected. Beckstead said the inside of the jail was a lot different then, referring to it as "the crowbar hotel" complete with cell bars and a "drunk tank."

The in-house elevator, also installed when the courthouse was built, is still used to transfer inmates from holding cells to the jail or from the jail to the courtrooms. And although the roughly 5-by-5-foot elevator is rickety, Beckstead called it "a pretty secure area to move prisoners."

"It is old, but it still works good," McKenzie said.

In 1985, McKenzie enlisted the help of the inmates to renovate the jail. Holding cells were added to the basement; tile was set in the showers; a separate heating and air conditioning unit were installed upstairs; and a door was cut in the west end of the jail, removing 12,000 pounds of steel and giving prisoners outside access through the metal cage, McKenzie said.

"We used all jail help to rebuild the holding cells. . . . The inmates have helped on all of the improvements," McKenzie said. "It worked out really good."

Using the inmates to renovate the jail gave them an opportunity to learn new skills. The prisoners also developed a sense of pride in the facility, Beckstead said.

In addition, it saved some county cash by minimizing construction costs and averting the possibility of having to relocate, he said.

"We saved taxpayers a lot of money to be able to improve the facility and continue to house inmates here," Beckstead said.