SANDPOINT - A judge has rejected plans to build a new Bonner County plan juvenile jail and work release center without a public vote.

Under the plan, property at the sheriff's office complex in Sandpoint would be leased to Rocky Mountain Corrections. The private company would then finance construction of a 34-bed juvenile lockup and 60-bed work release center.

The county would pay more than $782,000 a year and would own the buildings after 30 years, financing the plan through inmate fees and payments for inmates from other jurisdictions.

On Friday, though, First District Judge Charles W. Hosack ruled that the plan violates the Idaho Constitution, specifically a provision that requires a public vote on debts and liabilities that extend beyond one fiscal year.