The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted to table a proposal from the Freeborn County sheriff to construct an outdoor recreation area for jail inmates.

Commissioners said they wanted more information about the proposal, including a letter from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicating support for the project and any potential positive effect it may have on bringing more ICE detainees to the Freeborn County jail.

Sheriff Bob Kindler said under the proposal, the recreation area would be next to the jail, where the current loading dock can be found on the southeast side of the building. It would be behind fencing — with razor wire — and would be visible to the public.

The recreation area would be available for both regular Freeborn County jail inmates and ICE detainees and would probably include at least a basketball hoop and possibly other equipment.

There would be multiple cameras in the area to monitor usage.

Kindler said the estimated physical cost of the improvements is $40,000 or less. There might also be a slight increase in staffing costs totaling $15,000 a year.

He noted that each year the county has contracted with ICE to house federal detainees at the jail, it has received a deficiency during the jail inspection for not having a recreational area.

He said adding a recreational area would likely help to maintain the ICE contract and maybe even help the ICE officials agree to house additional detainees locally.

The county’s contract with ICE goes through June of 2014.

Kindler said on Tuesday morning there were just under 70 ICE detainees in the jail.

At a time when many jails around the state are feeling pressure from having many openings in their jail, Kindler said having more inmates would be a plus.

“We’re all struggling with low numbers,” he said.

Freeborn County is paid $77 a day from the federal government per detainee. The costs of the recreation area improvements could quickly be covered under this payout, he said.

The issue is slated to come before the commission again in two weeks.

In other Sheriff’s Office news:

• Kindler introduced his new Chief Deputy Glen Strom, who has been with the department for three years.

Strom said he was one of five people who submitted interest in the position. He will have many shared responsibilities with the sheriff.

“The guys I work with have been very supportive of me taking on this position,” he said.

Also new in their positions in the Sheriff’s Office are patrol Sgts. Ryan Shea and Tim Bennett.

The new positions came about as part of a reorganization of the department by Kindler.