The city of Kent jail will continue to house at least five inmates from the city of Federal Way for another five years.
The Kent City Council approved Feb. 7 an interlocal agreement with Federal Way to pay $301,125 per year to Kent to house inmates in the city jail. The contract will run through December 2028. Federal Way’s initial three-year contract started in 2019 and expired at the end of 2022.
“We guarantee five beds for them,” said city Corrections Cmdr. Diane McCuistion during a Jan. 17 report to the council’s Operations and Public Safety Committee. “It’s a revenue-generating contract of $301,000 guaranteed. If they choose and we have additional room, that will go up.”
Federal Way city leaders approached the city of Kent in 2019 after deciding to leave a seven-city interlocal agreement with the South Correctional Entity (SCORE) regional jail in Des Moines, which opened in 2012. Federal Way officials said at that time the city will save more than $2 million per year because of higher costs at the regional facility.
Kent’s jail, 1230 Central Ave. S., on the south end of the city, has 98 beds on the hard side with a dormitory that can hold another 30-plus inmates who are on work release and return at night.
The jail opened in 1986. It houses misdemeanor offenders arrested by police as well as those sentenced to less than one year in Kent Municipal Court. The crimes include drunk driving, domestic violence, minor assaults and petty theft. Felony cases are handled by King County’s Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent or the downtown Seattle county jail.
Councilmember Marli Larimer asked McCuistion if Kent has ever needed the five beds it leases to Federal Way.
“Five is a pretty reasonable number to work with,” McCuistion said. “They have wanted to use more than five and we have said no. Federal Way been really good about working with us if we can’t accommodate any more, they have other resources they use.”
Federal Way’s other jail contracts to house inmates include SCORE, Nisqually, Puyallup, King County and Issaquah, according to city documents.
As part of the Kent agreement, Federal Way will arrange for the transportation of Federal Way inmates to all court appearances. Medical transportation and medical supervision costs will be reimbursed for all actual costs incurred by Kent when transporting Federal Way inmates to medical facilities and for supervising Federal Way inmates during medical appointments or procedures.
Kent shall release Federal Way inmates pursuant to a signed order from the Federal Way Municipal Court judge. Federal Way inmates shall be released to a Federal Way police or transport officer at a prescheduled time as agreed to by the parties.
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