Juveniles’ Time In Jail Triples

Youths awaiting trial for violent felonies spent 561 days in jail collectively last year, more than tripling the 1996 total, the Kootenai County sheriff’s department said Friday.

Those teenagers faced charges that included murder, robbery and criminal conspiracy and topped the 1996 total of 165 days.

Meanwhile, the total prisoner days - the aggregate number of days inmates spent in jail - dropped 6 percent.

The decrease in prisoner days was not enough to solve the jail’s overcrowding problem, deputies said. That’s because the 5,988 people booked into jail last year was a 9 percent jump from the 1996 total.

, DataTimes