There is not a no vacancy sign on the Barton County Detention Center but if the jail population continues to grow, Sheriff Brian Bellendir might want to invest in one. Bellendir says the jail in bulging with prisoners right now with not much room to spare.

Brian Bellendir Audio

The obvious question is why the increase in prisoners.

The Sheriff says several arrests made at the end of August and early September have contributed to the problem. But he says the main culprit is the amount of time it is taking prisoners to move through the legal system.

Brian Bellendir Audio

When the jail is at near capacity, the cost to house those prisoners goes up while the amount of revenue that the county can generate by housing prisoners from other counties goes down. Bellendir says the detention center is not currently holding any prisoners for other counties due to the limited jail space that is being experienced at this time.