Murray County to examine jail needs

Lyon County increasing fees to house Murray Co. inmates

SLAYTON -- With the cost of housing inmates at the Lyon County Jail set to increase in the next couple of years, Murray County officials are looking for possible alternatives in the future.

At this week's Murray County Commissioner meeting, commissioners voted to have a building committee do an assessment of correctional facilities needs in the county. On Friday, Murray County Sheriff Heath Landsman said the committee could look at the feasibility of different potential options, including whether to build a correctional facility in Murray County, or possibly whether to try and develop a regional facility together with other counties.

"I look at it as, we need to explore all the options," Landsman said.

In August, Lyon County Commissioners voted to increase the service fees charged to house jail inmates from Murray County at the Lyon County Jail. The current fee is $75 a day, for each inmate. The new fees will increase that amount to $125 a day in 2027, and $175 a day in 2028.

Landsman said Murray County currently has just two jail cells, and is only able to hold unsentenced inmates for up to 72 hours.

"We do use our jail when we can," he said. However, he said it's not feasible for an inmate to serve a longer jail sentence there, unless they are participating in work release.

Lyon County isn't the only Minnesota county that has voted to raise the fees for other counties to house inmates at its jail. Nobles County voted to raise the cost of housing inmates at its jail, Landsman said. He said one piece of concerning news was the Olmsted County Board's decision last month to raise the fees for Dodge County to house inmates at the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center. Starting next year, the rate will more than quadruple, from $75 a day per inmate to $323 a day, Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose said in a letter he shared on Facebook.

With service rates at the Lyon County Jail set to increase, Landsman said it was a good time for Murray County to consider whether it wanted to keep paying that cost to another county, or invest it within Murray County. Having a correctional facility and staffing it would potentially mean more jobs in the local economy, he said.

The building committee has not met yet, Murray County Coordinator Sharon Giese said Friday. However, she said the group would consider both the county's current and future correctional needs in its assessment.