Why Kent is keeping its jail

You may have seen the recent news coverage about a new South King County-wide jail that will be constructed in Des Moines by a group called “SCORE”, which stands for South Correctional Entity.

SCORE is a group of seven cities that are working together to solve our collective jail crisis. The cities are Auburn, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Renton, SeaTac, and Tukwila. SCORE’s new jail facility will have over 600 beds with a cost projected to be a little over $80 million.

So why isn’t Kent included in that list, why is a new jail needed anyway, and what are we doing instead? This week I thought I’d provide a little background and explanation to those questions.

First of all, for someone outside the criminal justice system, it can be a little confusing how it’s determined which jails or prisons inmates go to. Here’s a short explanation: Anyone sentenced to prison terms lasting over a year goes to state prisons, like the ones located in Monroe and Walla Walla. Anyone sentenced to shorter terms lasting a few weeks to a year generally goes to the King County Jail. King County has two jails – one in downtown Seattle and the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent on Fourth Avenue.

In most places in the country, those sentenced for terms of a day or two up to a few months for misdemeanor crimes (domestic abuse, drunk driving, minor assault, theft) go to the county jail as well.

However, King County officials elected several years ago to refuse these inmates unless the cities paid the county daily fees to take them. As a result, several cities built their own jails to house misdemeanor inmates, as well as pre-trial defendants. Kent built its municipal jail in the mid-1980’s, and it is currently the largest municipal jail in the state. It is located on Central Avenue South next to the Kent Municipal Court. It employs 28 correctional officers who oversee between 80-120 inmates.

Our department was originally part of the study conducted by SCORE for a new regional jail. But after taking a look at the costs, the level of control, and what was best for our city, we chose to continue utilizing our existing jail facility for the long term.

While it seems one building, one staff, and all the overhead that goes with a facility like that could best be done by working together, there are a few specific reasons we have chosen to preliminarily stay on our own.

Keeping our own facility allows us to leverage three strengths. The bonding cost of participating in a regional jail would be at $15-20 million. Our present facility, although it will likely need some minor renovations and upgrades, is a sustainable building. Second, the staff at the Kent Jail is among the most professional and well-trained of any jail in the area. Having them be directly accountable to our city is a giant benefit. Third, we can build additional programs, such as work crews, into our jail system rather than incarceration being the only option.

The other cities in South King County have different needs. Their current jails are either too small, or they don’t have one at all. They cannot continue to pay King County for space because the County has indicated they will not be able to accommodate them in future years.

With our own jail, we can control costs, keep our quality staff, and maintain the ability to determine programs over the long term. Our department’s mission is to aggressively fight crime, protect rights, and solve problems. Being able to utilize our current jail and control the way we use it will allow us to better achieve those goals while still watching our dollars and respecting the taxpayer.

I hope this helps to explain and define a confusing topic. While most residents don’t know a lot about it, it matters because it costs real money and affects our public safety.

Steve Strachan is Kent’s chief of police. Contact him at sstrachan@ci.kent.wa.us, or at 253-856-5800.