Sheriff Winder says he's sold on the sale of a county jail

Selling the Oxbow Jail might not be a bad idea, Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said on Thursday.

The state is negotiating a deal with the county to buy the 560-bed facility in South Salt Lake. An appraisal is in the works on the selling price, House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy said.

Winder, who said he has been misquoted in the past as being against the deal, said what sold him is the fact the state is promising to pull all state inmates from the county's overcrowded adult detention center if the county agrees to sell.

That would free up 350 beds at the county's adult detention center.

"This might be a good deal for all involved," Winder said.

Even Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is supporting the deal, saying, "it fits in with the corrections department's goals, especially housing probationers."

"We need the capacity, and it's already been paid for by the taxpayer," Huntsman said.

Although Winder supports the jail sale, he still has reservations.

His chief concern is that the County Council would end up immediately closing those beds to save money. He should have cause for concern: The council has a history of shutting down beds, only to open them when the jail reaches crisis stage.

"It makes no sense," Winder said. "If the public sees the county has sold an asset and at the same time is holding jail beds, I don't see that the public would be happy about that."

Winder said he wants an assurance that the council won't immediately cut off funding for those 350 beds. If they do, the county jail system will have a net loss of 910 beds.

Salt Lake County Councilman Randy Horiuchi said, "That's not a decision that is close to being made yet."

The council is "all over the board," on what to do with the beds, Horiuchi said.

It all comes down to money, Councilman Michael Jensen said. The county will likely lose $2.5 million a year if the state inmates are pulled from the jail, but then again, the county ends up subsidizing state inmates by about $4 million a year, Salt Lake County Chief Deputy Sheriff Rollin Cook said.

"If we're still ahead dollars at the end of the day, then it would be a lot easier to open all the beds," Jensen said.