Minot, N.D. (AP) Ward County jail administrators have returned their inmate population to maximum capacity after weeks of overcrowding.
The jail in Minot had been housing roughly 50 more inmates than its 104-person limit. Jail officials began transporting inmates to Bismarck and rugby two weeks ago after the State Corrections Department ordered that the jail stay within the capacity limit. About 30 people have been transferred.
Captain Bob Barnard of the Ward County Sheriff's Department says the county will have to spend roughly $700,000 per year to house 30 people at other locations. He says the jail needs more workers in its transportation division because inmates that have been transferred to other jails have to return to Minot for court appearances.