GOODING - A proposed Magic Valley jail weathered harsh attacks and critical questions from Gooding County residents Thursday evening at a public meeting.

But with none of the 40 county residents who attended the meeting outright blocking the project and several offering praise, a 340-bed facility appears ready for commissioners' vote in September.

Residents asked if a new jail would reduce the security issues plaguing the current, outdated jail - namely personnel problems that have led to several escapes. Several audience members expressed concern over the jail's placement in their backyards. Others were concerned that the state's agreement to lease beds from the county might fall apart - leaving the county with a facility that it can't afford.

Mostly however, the audience seemed convinced that constructing the new jail was right for Gooding County.

One woman told Sheriff Shaun Gough the idea is "a wonderful opportunity you've set up for our county and the state."

"It can only help us in the long run," she said, as nearly every person in the audience burst into applause.

The jail, which a non-profit would buy through a private bond and lease to Gooding County, would raise no new taxes for Gooding County or Lincoln and Camas counties - both of which would rent bed space from Gooding County, presenters said. The impact on property value would be minimal, they said. And the jail would be discrete - relatively quiet and hidden from neighbors behind a bluff and a row of trees.

But before the praise came tough questions.

"What concerns me most is not the prison," said a man in the audience. "It's the people (running it)."

Several audience members echoed the concern that unprofessional staffing could diminish the security of a new jail. The worst-case scenario, many agreed, is if the jail fails to meet the standards of the state, which plans to lease 250 beds for its overflow prisoner population, and the Idaho Department of Correction yanks its prisoners from the facility.

Gough and other presenters, including Commission Chairman Tom Faulkner, said that with a $6,000-higher starting wage and state-of-the-art facility, the jail would attract more professional jail deputies. April Lee, general manager of Rocky Mountain Corrections, a firm hired by the county to assess needs and costs of building the new jail, said the jail would benefit from additional oversight from the non-profit that owns it.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you that an escape is impossible," Gough said. "But it's improbable."

Gough, who will oversee all 45 employees at the jail, said it's his responsibility to immediately tell the public when an escape occurs.

Gough said in advance that he accepts the responsibility for any possible future escape.

He said Friday it's time to move forward with the project.

"We know what the public sentiment is," he said. "They want it and now we can really start going (and) get to the point where we can get a shovel in the ground."

Cassidy Friedman may be reached at 208-735-3241 or cfriedman@magicvalley.com.