SANDPOINT — Strong staffing is keeping Bonner County’s juvenile detention facility on life support.

The Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections has advised the county it can no longer certify its lockup for youthful offenders because of structural and design deficiencies associated with the facility, which was re-purposed from a 40-year-old single-family residence.

“We lose certification in March,” Debbie Stallcup, director of Bonner County Justice Services, told county commissioners on Tuesday.

The loss of certification, however, does not mean the county will have to shutter the facility immediately, but it does signal that its days are numbered.

Stallcup told the board she’s received assurances from the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program that it will continue to insure the facility for the time being because of the strengths of its staff and as long as the county moves forward with a plan to replace the facility.

“We’ve got to fix this and if we don’t, there’s going to be a lot of money leaving the county,” county Commission Chairman Lewis Rich said, referring to the prospect of boarding Bonner County’s juvenile inmates at a regional facility in Coeur d’Alene.

The county tried in 2008 to get a district judge to confirm a lease-to-purchase  agreement for a new facility, but the court ruled such an agreement would place an unconstitutional obligation on taxpayers. The county proposed a two-year override levy to replace the existing 12-bed facility with a 32-bed detention center, but Bonner County voters overwhelming rejected the proposal last year.

A review committee inspected the facility last December. They gave staff, administration and programing high marks, but warned that the substandard building might cost the facility its certification from IDJC.

Although some of the shortfalls — exposed plumbing and data wiring — could be resolved, the rest are show stoppers.

The building does not comply with the International Fire Code or the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the inspection report. A hallway adjacent to living areas is too narrow and dead ends because it butts up against another county office. The roof is shot and the wood-frame building is made of combustible materials, which is contrary to state standards for such a facility.

“Pushing it over is really the only option,” Rich said.

Stallcup said she plans to meet with commissioners and the county’s civil counsel to see if another lease/purchase arrangement can be worked out which avoids the pitfalls of the original proposal and places no additional burden on taxpayers.