It’s common to see one county house inmates from other counties who don’t have enough jail space, but an unusual agreement has been signed to have an overflow of prisoners from a southern Minnesota county cross state lines and be sent to a north-central Iowa county jail. Mitchell County (Iowa) Sheriff Curt Younker says his county is seeing the immediate benefits of helping fill Mower County Minnesota’s need for jail space. Younker says the counties entered into an agreement to have Mower County lease 12 bunk spaces from the Mitchell County jail on a permanent basis. Younker says each bunk space is worth $40 per day, used or not, and each additional bunk over 12 is worth $50 per day. Younker says that extra cash is not specifically earmarked for any county program. Younker says the money will just go into the county’s general fund. The contract, combined with Mitchell County leasing other open spaces in their jail to other counties needing beds, could land the county between $150-to-$200-thousand a year.
