HERNANDO (AP) — DeSoto County officials are considering whether to build a new female detention unit so they can open up space at the existing jail.

The DeSoto County Jail has been crowded in recent years, and local officials have been under pressure from prisoners’ rights advocates to reduce the inmate population.

The site being considered for a female detention unit is next to the county health department complex off U.S. Highway 51. Sheriff Bill Rasco says DeSoto County has three or four acres there that could be used for a new female jail.

A larger question of where to build a planned 500-bed jail and county justice complex remains to be answered.