Last month at the 2,000-bed county jail, the cell doors swung open for about a dozen female inmates, including a few just two days into their court-ordered sentences. Convicted of crimes like attempted burglary and prostitution, they were deemed to be the least dangerous of the bunch, and were released to a day-reporting program to ease overcrowding.

It was the Salt Lake County equivalent of Monopoly's get-out-of-jail-free card. On Monday, the County Council wisely removed that card from the deck.

The council agreed, reluctantly, to reopen 128 beds at the county lockup that had been closed to encourage the courts to seek alternatives to incarceration. Reopening the wing was the right move. It will buy the county some time to study its long-term options. Because, in light of the continued population growth and the county attorney's get-tough stance on domestic violence and identity fraud, jail overcrowding is a problem that isn't going away.

There are alternatives to incarceration that work well with some classes of offenders, options that the county courts already have at their disposal - house arrest, ankle monitoring, day reporting, drug court and other rehabilitation programs. The council is right to insist that these programs be employed to their maximum benefit.

Still, the council has a responsibility to make space behind bars for all lawbreakers judged deserving of a place there, so the concerns expressed by County Sheriff Jim Winder and District Attorney Lohra Miller must be taken seriously.

Similar overcrowding problems brought about an expansion at the prison seven years ago. Now we've come full circle. Miller said overcrowding has reached a "crisis" level, and the safety of the community could be jeopardized. Without the threat of jail as a deterrent, crime could become more common.

Fortunately, it was easy to solve the space problem - this time. The next step proposed by Winder - reopening the 550 beds at the minimum-security Oxbow jail, which was mothballed in 2000 - would be far more costly.

But the County Council would be wise to study the proposal, and prepare for the worst. We're dealing with dangerous criminals here, and a "No Vacancy" sign is not an acceptable option.