Swain County officials aren’t taking any chances when it comes to running out of room in their jail.

The Swain County commissioners recently approved a $10.2 million loan to build a 144-bed jail and sheriff’s office. While one of the smallest counties in the region, Swain will have one of the biggest jails.

It will have nearly as many jail beds as Jackson and Macon counties together. Macon built a new jail in 1999 with 75 beds and Jackson opened a new jail in 2003 with 80 beds.

Swain’s jail will even be bigger than Haywood’s jail. Haywood County’s population is nearly three times bigger than Swain’s population, but Haywood County’s new jail — slated to open in one month — only has 132 beds.

Swain County Sheriff Bob Ogle said the extra space will be used to house inmates from Graham County, from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and federal inmates, as Bryson City is home to a federal courthouse.