Show New Law Needed on Prisoner Transfers Answering a a. a query from the Garfield county attorney Attorney General Giles ruled the other day that prisoners of one county may not under Utah law be transferred to another county jail l. l The Garfield county attorney had asked if such sueh transfer of prisoners was legal saying that if it was it would be possible for for Garfield county and the city of Panguitch Panguitch Panguitch Pan- Pan to save money by having their prisoners cared for in other county jails This ruling is quite surprising because it has been common practice in the past under certain circumstances for prisoners to be transferred from one county to another another another an an- other other where facilities in the original county were not satisfactory satisfactory for for in instance instance instance in- in stance stance in the case of women or juvenile prisoners or prisoners who in the opinion of officials needed closer watch than ordinary jail inmates At the present t time me for instance two Sevier Sevie county prisoners are lodged in the Salt Lake county jail They are two brothers from Missouri charged with murder and Sevier county officials felt they should be held in a jail offering better etter security than Sevier county could provide Certainly it makes sense to have prisoners transferred out of a county under particular circumstances Many of our Utah counties have very small populations They are arc able to provide only the simplest kind of jail custody suitable only for minor offenders and not at all suitable for women or juveniles Furthermore it is frequently far ar too expensive for a small county to maintain an adequate jail and there could be a substantial saving if one county could send its prisoners for safekeeping safekeeping safekeeping safe safe- keeping in another county's jail paying for the privilege If the law now says such prisoner transfers are illegal then what we need is a new law law and and we hope the next legislature will attend to the matter |