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Changing a law that requires medical training or a nurse's help to give medicine to jail inmates would eliminate headaches in more ways than one, Burleigh County Sheriff Pat Heinert says.

Heinert told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that enabling jail staff to dispense prescription drugs would help simplify inmates' medical care, and would save money.

Burleigh County now pays a local hospital about $150,000 per year to handle inmate medicines. A bill being considered by legislators would make it easier to train jail staff to handle those duties, Heinert said.

Spokeswomen for the state nurses' association and the Board of Nursing, which licenses nurses in North Dakota, said in interviews they did not oppose the legislation.

In a March 2004 legal opinion, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said state law required county jailers to have specialized medical training or a nurse's help to dispense prescription medicine to inmates. He recommended handling nonprescription medicine in the same way to reduce the possibility of a lawsuit.

The proposed legislation would allow the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to set up a medicine administration training program for jail staff, approved by the Board of Nursing. Jail staffers would not be allowed to inject insulin or any other drug.

Heinert said the North Dakota Sheriffs and Deputies Association favors the bill. The North Dakota Association of Counties also supports it because it ensures prisoner safety and could help reduce jail operation costs, said Terry Traynor, the association's assistant director.

"It would … provide an effective balance," he said.

Constance Kalanek, the director of the state nursing board, said bill will allow the training of jail staff without having to meet nurse licensing requirements.

Kalanek said she was unable able to not attend the Judiciary Committee hearing. She said the nursing board supports the plan because it keeps inmates safe while streamlining the process of getting medicine to prisoners.

"It's a positive to have individuals trained to provide medicine in jails rather than have it accomplished with untrained individuals," Kalanek said.

Sen. David Nething, R-Jamestown, the committee's chairman, said Kalanek would have a chance to testify on the bill later.

He said lawmakers are taking a cautious approach because "we are going off into a different direction" with jail medicine under the bill.

Sharon Moos, administrator of the North Dakota Nurses Association, said in an interview that her group does not oppose the bill "as long as the Board of Nursing has the oversight of the medication course that jailers will be taking."