WA Owes County due to Increased Costs
Officials in Franklin County say the state has yet to pay some of its increased costs because of a dramatic expansion of the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell. Adding more than a 1,000 inmates to the state facility has driven up the county’s costs for its court system, among other things. Reported in the Seattle PI.
Coyote Ridge started as a 600-bed minimum security prison but now has nearly 2,000 inmates. By the end of the year, it’s expected to reach its capacity of more than 2,600 inmates.
Franklin County Prosecutor Steve Lowe compared it to adding another city, and said it’s important for the state, not just county taxpayers, to share in costs.
“The reality is Franklin County has gotten nothing,” Lowe said.
Despite the state budget deficit, Franklin County will ask the Legislature in the next session for impact fees, county commissioner Bob Koch said.
A joint study by the county and Connell in 2008 estimated the county’s one-time costs at $2.5 million, including staff and equipment for departments dealing with criminal justice, Koch said. There are also extra costs to local schools and hospitals.
But no money made it through the Legislature, officials said.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Rowlanda Cawthon said only the Legislature has the power to appropriate such money.
County officials don’t yet have a firm estimate of additional costs from the prison expansion. But they include an increase in court filings and paperwork. Prisoners have filed lawsuits against the state and prison employees, and those must be handled in Franklin County courts.
Lowe said there has also been an increase in criminal cases from the prison, which are investigated by Connell police. When Coyote Ridge was a minimum-security prison, his office received one to three prison-related criminal cases a year, usually escape or drug cases.
Lowe said his office has 10 cases on hold from Coyote Ridge, most of which are assaults.
County Clerk Michael Killian said letters from inmates come into his office daily, and his staff has to respond to inquiries for legal help and forms. Killian estimated the workload related to inmates amounts to a full day for a clerk every week.
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