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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Officers are once again allowed to book people into the Salt Lake County jail on ANY misdemeanor charges.
The Sheriff's Office has lifted some of the booking restrictions put in place in May to help relieve overcrowding.
The rules have frustrated officers who could not book people arrested for some minor crimes.
Although the jail's two-thousand beds remain full, Sheriff Aaron Kennard says he lifted the restrictions last week in an effort to allow officers to book people that "need" to be arrested.
However, Kennard says there's a good chance that after a person is booked they will be released without posting bail because of the lack of beds.
Authorities say even the short incarceration is helpful because it allows law enforcement to continue to keep a criminal history on each person.
During the past two years, the sheriff's office has considered various methods to lessen the jail's overcrowding.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
