Kane County cut the ribbon Wednesday on its new Public Safety Complex in Kanab, which includes a badly needed, larger jail. The county’s sheriff’s office and Utah Highway Patrol office will move into the building next week when inmates will begin hearing the sound of jail doors closing. The new jail has 192 beds — compared with 22 at the old facility — and will allow the county to contract with the state for 160 prison inmates. The state will pay the county $47 a day per prisoner and relieve overcrowding at its two prisons. The county received a $10 million loan from the state’s community impact board and a $7.5 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office to pay for the complex. The new jail is expected to add 28 well-paying jobs, including more deputies, dispatchers and a nurse. Salt Lake Tribune
