COVINGTON — Rodney Ballard said it's almost impossible to determine what he'll need at the Kenton County Jail over the next few years.

        But one thing Mr. Ballard, the jail's chief deputy, knows for certain: Whenever the $27.3 million expansion is finished, his job is going to be harder.

        “It's hard to predict what trends are going to be,” Mr. Ballard said Tuesday.

        Whenever the expansion of the current facility at the Kenton County Courthouse is finished, there will be room for 611 inmates.

        The present facility is designed for 241 inmates, but Mr. Ballard said the average daily population ranges from 350 to 410.

        Mr. Ballard said the jail will have a medical wing for the first time, and the new kitchen will be able to serve all 611 inmates at the same time instead of having to feed them in shifts.

        But though Mr. Ballard cannot predict trends, he thinks at least three factors may increase the jail population: crime increases associated with a faltering economy; the drunken-driving blood-alcohol content standard being lowered from 0.10 to 0.08; and the rise of OxyContin prescription-drug abuse, especially OxyContin, the drug used to treat extreme pain in cancer patients.

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