Jail is never a pleasant place to be. And it shouldn't be, if the people who stay there have committed a crime.

At the same time, jail cells have certain standards they must follow and the Mower County jail hasn't been meeting them recently.

The jail's capacity is 45 and if it must exceed that, it can only do so for a week. But the Mower County jail has exceeded capacity daily. On Thursday, 64 inmates occupied the facility.

When the jail is overcrowded, the county must call counties within 100 miles to see if they can take those Mower County

cannot house. Transporting and housing them costs the county more money.

The jail experience is tough on those in the cells. People with a variety of social problems are forced to live together and put up with flying food, feces and fists.

The situation puts more stress on the jailers, who try to keep the area under control.

Extra people -- people who are likely not to behave themselves -- create chaos for everyone who has to spend time in the jail.

The county needs to find a permanent solution to this problem, whether that be an addition or a new jail.

The county's reserves, one of the largest reserves of counties in the state, could be put toward such a project.

Yes, a new jail will cost millions of dollars, but it seems well worth it. Those in the jail would be safer and the county would not have to spend extra money to put inmates elsewhere.

A less-crowded jail will put less stress on jailers, so that they can better monitor the inmate's activity.

An effective solution to this problem needs to be implemented -- and soon --before over-crowding becomes a more serious public safety issue.