After more than an hour of discussion, commissioners tentatively agreed to:
n Build a facility and attach it to the ARC to house work-release inmates. A final cost hasn’t been determined, but it is expected to cost less than the $1.9 million estimate for adapting an existing building on the jail property, said Robin Campbell, Thurston County budget and fiscal manager. n Add beds to increase the jail’s originally planned capacity.
n Put a transition team in place to begin moving to the new jail.
n Begin planning to add a women’s jail facility to the ARC. In the meantime, the jail would open with men and women segregated in the same facility.
The 100,000-square-foot jail, in the Mottman Industrial Park in Tumwater, was substantially finished last year, and county leaders had said they lack the funding to open it. But they changed their tune after a consultant’s report last month found the county could move all operations to the jail for about $1.1 million more per year if the jail switches to modified 12-hour staff shifts and puts more inmates than planned in the cells and dorms, along with other money-saving options.
The jail was originally designed as a satellite facility, but plans are now to move all jail operations from the Thurston County Courthouse complex on Lakeridge Drive to the ARC.
Krupp said there is $1.5 million left over in the budget for the ARC. That money would be used to get the jail up and running. Another $1.2 million will be allocated for operational costs next year, which will be an ongoing yearly expense. Krupp said the county has put aside money with the aim of eventually opening the ARC.
The goal is to open the jail next year. But it’s unclear exactly when that will happen, Krupp said. There are multiple obstacles: forming new policies and procedures, union negotiations for workers there, and hiring and recruitment for new employees.
Much of the commissioners’ discussion Saturday centered on whether to build a new facility for work-release inmates, when there was some discussion about whether to keep the work-release program. Sheriff John Snaza, who took office this year, said data on the success of the program hasn’t been kept until he started recently, so it’s unclear how well the program is working.
Commissioner Cathy Wolfe questioned the future of the work-release program and talked about looking at other options.
Snaza said, “I really believe that we can all move over there” to the new jail, but not without the work-release building.
Even then, the jail would be overcrowded just as the current one is, until the women’s jail can be built, Snaza said. With women and men in the jail, some men in the jail will be in the line of sight of women, he said.
Commissioner Sandra Romero questioned whether an existing building on the property should be renovated, but later decided against it because it’s detached from the jail. She said she’s concerned two buildings on the site are going unused.
Snaza said a building attached to the jail would be more versatile if the work-release program goes away and the building can be used for other uses.
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
