On Monday the Flathead County commissioners unanimously granted Sheriff Chuck Curry the authority to begin sending inmates from the Kalispell juvenile detention facility to Missoula County to free up space at the overcrowded Flathead County Detention Center.

Curry said his office is still negotiating the rate Flathead County will pay Missoula County to house the young inmates.

Since a plan to purchase the former Walmart building in Evergreen and turn it into a new jail fell through, outsourcing juvenile offenders is the only short-term solution that has been proposed to handle the overflow of inmates at the Flathead County Detention Center.

The main jail’s capacity is 107 beds but in recent weeks the inmate population has swelled as high as 117.

The juvenile detention center will be used to house female inmates from the jail.

The motion was made by Commissioner Gary Krueger, with the stipulation that it only be on a temporary basis until a long-term solution can be found.

“It’s probably temporary until we get something built, I would guess,” Curry said after the meeting.

At a meeting last Wednesday, Curry formally presented the plan to temporarily disband the county’s juvenile detention center. At the time, the commissioners were unsure whether they needed to officially grant the authority to the sheriff to undertake the jail switch.

At Monday’s meeting, Commissioner Phil Mitchell said he didn’t believe the commissioners needed to officially grant Curry the authority to do so, but the sheriff had requested they vote on the motion to provide support.

The average daily juvenile jail population in Flathead County is four inmates, though Curry said last week he hopes that number can be cut in half by taking youths to shelters or having them electronically monitored.

Closing the juvenile facility will result in the loss of one part-time teaching position and some grant money that the facility receives for housing youths. Otherwise, the transition should move smoothly, Curry said.

Curry estimated it could cost $345,000 a year to house four juveniles in Missoula, although the actual cost could vary substantially based on how many juveniles end up going to Missoula.

County Administrator Mike Pence said the money likely would come from sheriff’s budget reserves or county reserve funds. Curry had asked that the commissioners approve the plan as soon as possible so minor construction needed to repurpose the juvenile facility could begin.

Reporter Samuel Wilson may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.