The jail fence could help stop future escapes, but the county does not have the money to build it.
"We couldn't even afford the materials," said Daggett County Sheriff Rick Ellsworth.
A second perimeter fence is required by the Utah Department of Corrections at facilities that house its inmates. But Ellsworth said not having a second fence does not pose a security threat as the jail no longer allows inmates into recreation yards.
DOC spokesperson Angie Welling said the department is aware the second fence has not been built but "is satisfied with the security measures in place."
Daggett County still wants to install the $270,000 chain-link fence with razor wire and surveillance cameras as part of $600,000 in upgrades to the jail.
Additional upgrades would include new outbuildings, which can be used to hold programs for inmates, such as job training. Ellsworth hopes those programs will encourage the state of Utah to send more of its inmates to the Daggett County jail.
There have been several inmates who have escaped over fences at the Daggett County jail since 2004.
* In July 2004, three inmates escaped over a fence. One inmate sneaked back in with methamphetamine and distributed it to other prisoners. The other two escapees were captured.
* In 2005, an inmate in a recreation yard scaled a fence. He was on the run for four days before police in Rawlins, Wyo., 170 miles away, captured him.
* In September 2007, two men convicted of homicide charges again escaped over a fence. They were at large for about a week until they kidnapped and tied up a man who freed himself, found help and alerted authorities. The Wyoming Highway Patrol found the escapees and wounded one of them in a shootout.
Those two inmates were sent to be housed in the Daggett County jail by the DOC. The department removed its remaining inmates from Daggett County shortly after the escape, but returned non-violent offenders there a few weeks later when the county made other security upgrades.
The jail, which has 15 full-time employees, is a major employer in the sparsely-populated county.
ncarlisle@sltrib.com
