King County Jail To Stay Open For City Inmates
Seattle and its suburbs will be allowed to continue bringing their misdemeanor offenders to the King County Jail beyond 2012 — when the county initially predicted it would have no more room, officials announced Thursday. Story from the Seattle P-I.
County officials said they’re preparing to negotiate new “multiyear” contracts with Seattle and 35 cities, which pay to book their misdemeanor offenders — including drunken drivers and misdemeanor domestic abusers — in the county jail … Earlier projections showed the jail running out of room and the cities were told they would be no longer allowed to use the jail after 2012. But instead of rising, the number of inmates dropped the past few years. In the meantime, Seattle and its suburbs began plans on two separate projects to build municipal jails — one in North King County and the other in South King County.
“This drop in jail use gives us an opportunity to take a more collaborative and regional approach in examining options for future jail space needs,” King County Executive Kurt Triplett said. “Jails are very expensive and it is important that we make the most cost-effective decision for the region.” County officials said Thursday that details would be hammered out in negotiations. They were unable to say how many more years the jail would be available for the city’s misdemeanor offenders … The county is apparently able to offer 300 beds up until 2015, only three years beyond the original deadline, according to the city …
The jail population’s decline is mostly due to fewer bookings by Seattle police for felony drug crimes. Seattle’s bookings have dropped 25 percent, according to King County. Seattle’s use of alternative programs, such as day reporting and electronic home monitoring, also has reduced the number of inmates in custody.
Uncategorized