Burleigh/Morton County Meet To Discuss Joint Jail - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Tonight both Burleigh and Morton County Commissioners meet to discuss building a joint jail.

Both county jails housed more inmates in 2012 than the year before.

In 2012 Burleigh County housed more than 5500 inmates, 600 more than in 2011.

Both sides of the river agree, they're running out of room.

"I think what we've got to keep in mind is we have no where to bring them anymore, we're getting to a point where all the jails in our area are getting full, and we're going to be faced with where do we bring them next year, or the year after," Burleigh County Vice Chairman Jim Peluso said.

If passed, many commissioners agree the new joint jail should be built in Burleigh County and should be paid for by sales tax, not property taxes.

"People are sick and tired of real estate taxes, and I would say 90 percent of the people I talk with about funding the jail said they feel it would have to be sales tax and they would support that, so I think we've only got one option," Burleigh County Commissioner Doug Schonert said.

A decision on whether or not a joint jail should be built was not made at tonight's meeting.

Both counties will meet in the coming weeks to make the decision.