Guthrie County hasn’t held a district court jury trial since the Iowa Supreme Court suspended jury trials last March with it not being lifted until February at the earliest, which puts a strain on the county jail’s capacity to hold defendants.

Though jail capacity has been an issue for Guthrie County for years and is a chief contributor for the upcoming new law enforcement center, Sheriff Marty Arganbright says the lack of jury trials this year has shown an impact on their current jail. Arganbright says the jail has been full for months, “Our jail’s full right now, it’s hard to make it all happen. Sometimes the inmates have to be on the floor, we try to hopefully work with the courts and get them to where they’re gonna go. Otherwise it just backlogs and that’s what it’s done here. We try to get them moved ahead, but it’s hard with the COVID because cases can’t be tried or heard. So yeah, it’s made a big difference.”

Arganbright adds that preventing the spread of COVID-19 to the inmates has also been a priority for his staff as any positive cases and hospitalizations would decrease the number of available Deputies on duty. He is excited to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, as work began on the law enforcement center addition to the county courthouse this past October.