Unlike most states, Idaho lacks regulatory oversight of local jails. Sheriffs and jail commanders set their own standards. Annual inspections are voluntary, scheduled months ahead of time, and the sheriff’s association conducting the inspections is exempt from the state’s public disclosure law.

If jails fail the inspections, there’s nobody who can force them to comply.

Results of the voluntary inspections, obtained by InvestigateWest, offer a grim picture of the current state of many Idaho jails. All of the jails that failed inspections this year were overcrowded, understaffed or both.

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