"I went down and toured the jail with my city council members and I'm even more in favor of [the increase] now,'' Sunset Mayor Janice Galbraith told members of the Davis County Council of Governments.

Galbraith, who chairs the COG, said the jail visit dispelled many of the rumors she had heard over the years about the supposed luxurious treatment of inmates.

"It is nothing like a health spa. I saw no exercise equipment,'' she said. "And there isn't a TV in every room. They have one hanging on the wall in every cell block.''

The COG members unanimously supported a resolution urging residents to become educated on the status of the jail by touring the facility before the Nov. 2 election. The county plans to ask voters for $24.8 million to build a 400-bed addition to the facility.

The mayors raised the possibility of using the now-vacant Oxbow Jail in Salt Lake County and turning away state prisoners to save space.

"We looked at that, we really did,'' Commission Chairman Dannie McConkie said.

State prisoners are often sentenced to county facilities by state court judges who use it as a condition of probation.

"Talk to the judges,'' said Commissioner Michael Cragun.

Commissioners noted that a citizen's committee concluded that the Oxbow facility was constructed to house only minor offenders. The study also pointed out that it would be expensive to bus criminals securely from South Salt Lake to the Davis County Courts Complex in Farmington.