RIVERTON (WNE) — Due to budgetary issues, short-term solutions are in place to combat crowding at the Fremont County Detention Center, while long-term solutions are on hold, temporarily.

“We’re not just sitting by watching; we’re thinking of ways that we can help alleviate concerns in the future,” Fremont County Sheriff Ryan Lee told the Fremont County Commission during his monthly report last week.

Since summer, Lee has voiced concerns before the commission regarding overcrowding at the detention center, which houses, ideally, no more than 160 inmates.

As of Monday, the county had 185 inmates, 179 of whom were held within the jail.

Inmates not at the detention center included three juveniles being held in Natrona County, one person on home confinement, one person on a furlough, and one adult confined in the Hot Springs County Jail, according to Lee’s report.

Commissioner Clarence Thomas, who was asked to develop a task force to help ease overcrowding at the detention center, said the project has been delayed due to a lack of interest among government entities.

In Lander, he said, city leadership lacks interest due to the small number of arrests recorded there compared to Riverton. As for Riverton, Thomas wondered if “a lack of funding” could be part of the problem.

For now, Lee said, solutions include working with judges and Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun to negotiate lower bonds, retrofitting certain areas within the facility to house more inmates, and “trying to think outside of the box” to ease overcrowding.

To handle offenders sentenced in their municipal court, City of Riverton leaders have been approaching other jails — including the Park County Detention Center in Cody — about potentially housing their inmates.