A burgeoning prison population at the Fayette County jail forced officials to build a new facility, and build it big. Right now, theyll say, What is all that space for? said county jailer Ray Sabbatine. Twenty-five years from now, theyll say, That was a good idea. When the new $62 million jail opens Friday, it also will help Kentucky deal with a record number of people behind bars by housing some of the states least dangerous criminals. The number of jail inmates in Kentucky has quadrupled since 1980.The new jail allows Fayette County to participate for the first time in a state program that lets Class D felons those with the least serious charges to serve their sentences in county jails rather than state prisons. Nearly one-quarter of Kentuckys felons stay at local jails, said state corrections Commissioner Doug Sapp. The prison population is, however, growing less rapidly than it did during the 1980s and early 1990s. Sabbatine put extra space in the new jail not because hes overly cautious, but because hes seen one facility grow beyond its capacity and doesnt want to see it happen again. The new jail doubles the old capacity to 1,200, with room for expansion. City officials were already talking about a new jail in 1998 when Federal District Judge Karl S. Forester turned that talk into action. Forester pooled several lawsuits filed by inmates who said cramped conditions constituted cruel and unusual punishment. When you get overcrowding in jails, you really have some problems and not just the obvious sanitary problems, Forester said. Fuses are short and tempers are bad. To comply with Foresters order, Fayette County started releasing non-violent offenders early and developed the Community Alternative program as a way to deter crime without incarceration. Options include electronic monitoring that tracks offenders and a day-reporting system that allows them to sleep at home and participate in community service during the day. A new drug court also sentences some people to go through intensive counseling and community service rather than spend time in jail. Sabbatine hopes to expand these programs rather than ditch them as one way to avoid a repeat of the overcrowding problem. And some critics say building new jails isnt the best way to rehabilitate a growing number of inmates anyway, particularly those with drug or alcohol addictions. They suggest that most drug offenders receive better treatment at a lower cost without being incarcerated, and wouldnt clog jails that are hurting for space. In some cities, new jails have filled over in just a couple of years or even a couple of months. Thats because judges had started assigning jail time for offenses that would have received lesser sanctions before. And in Lexington, police and judges also will be free to punish some criminals more stringently without the old space constraints. Circuit court judges will be able to sentence low-level felons to do time locally. Police officers will start to make arrests for property offenses that have drawn citations in recent years, and district court judges will see criminals actually serving the time assigned to them. You cant keep people in jail for stealing radios and telephones when youve got people who have committed violent crimes, said Lexington Police Chief Larry Walsh. Fayette County Circuit Judge Mary Noble said space limitations have taught judges a lot about the benefits of probation, but she said she still sees value in coupling a short term behind bars with a longer period of court supervision. If the space is there, we will use it, Noble said. Unfortunately, the converse is also true: If the space is not there, we will not use it. Chief Judge Kevin Horne said he doesnt expect judges to start wildly assigning jail time to people who now receive probation just because the new jail provides more space. But he said he will be more likely to recommend a few days of detention to those who violate their probation agreement.