COEUR d'ALENE - The Kootenai County commission voted Wednesday to seek what's called judicial confirmation of a proposed rental agreement for use of a new jail.

No location for the proposed 625-bed jail has been selected and the facility won't be built until the owner, Rocky Mountain Corrections of Ketchum, Idaho, knows for sure the county will occupy it.

The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office would operate the facility. The county's current jail has 327 beds, but doesn't meet the county's needs, with many prisoners being housed in other jails in the region.

Judicial confirmation means the county will get an opinion from a state District Court judge on the constitutionality of an important section of the proposed rental agreement.

Transporting prisoners to regional jails creates a lot of liability.

"We're only allowed to indebt the county one year at a time without a vote of the voters," said Commissioner Dan Green, who chose to seek judicial confirmation. The county wants an annual rental agreement with potential renewals.

"We can walk away at any time" under the terms of the proposed rental agreement, Green said.

The county would have to move prisoners back into its current jail facility if a rental agreement ended between the county and Rocky Mountain.

Commissioner Todd Tondee also voted in favor of judicial confirmation, and Commissioner Jai Nelson voted against it.

The county's outside bond counsel, Boise attorney Stephanie Bonney, has said the county wouldn't be obligated to rent the facility for more than one year at a time. The judge will determine if the bond counsel is right.

"That's really what the judicial confirmation is going to tell us: Are we circumventing the vote of the people where we're supposed to have a vote of the people?" Tondee said.

He said Rocky Mountain, because of its expense in building the jail, wants additional certainty the rental agreement is constitutional before the first shovel hits the ground for construction.

Green and Tondee said the county would be paying Rocky Mountain just more than $5 million per year for use of the jail.

Voters already said "no" to paying for construction of a new facility, Tondee pointed out.

"We're trying to manage the liability and the resources of the county in the best way," Tondee said. "With that, we don't need a vote. That's part of our job, that's what we do every day. It's a budget decision."

Green said renting a jail will save the county money.

"We don't have final numbers," Green said. "We have a target."

He said his support for the proposal could change if the rental cost per bed increases.

Nelson expressed multiple concerns during the commissioners' meeting Wednesday.

"I strongly believe that not placing this issue on the ballot is a violation of the will of the people and an attempt to circumvent the constitution," Nelson said. "This is not the right thing to do for our citizens - bottom line."

Among her concerns, Nelson said the public should know where the jail would be built. If the county were to vacate a jail built and owned by a private company, she is concerned it could then be rented out as a private prison.