07/23/08

It's a project that's been in the making for years, and today the Blaine County Sheriffs office had the chance to show off their new jail facility.

Officials say - the more than $10 million levy passed last November for the new jail which will accommodate more than 80 inmates.

Sheriff officials say the first jail committee was formed in 1990 - but they didn't get serious about this project until 2005, when they started to draft up a design for the new facility.

The building is not only a jail, it also has a new communication department, patrol office and search and rescue department.

Officials say the jail will first accommodate those in Blaine County but then will expand to assist with overcrowding in other jails across the state.