Just a few years ago, the Highland Park Action Committee led the fight against what originally were two possible sites in West Seattle for a new city jail – which was said to be necessary because the county would soon be unable to house city inmates. The plan eventually was dropped, but there remained the lingering possibility a city facility might be needed. A deal announced this morning appears to shelve that potential need for at least twenty years – news release after the jump:Read More

FIRST REPORT, 9:13 AM: As mentioned last night, a “significant development in the regional jail-planning process” is promised this morning. It’s been two years since Seattle announced it needed new jail space, and started looking at sites that currently include one in West Seattle (West Marginal/Highland Park Way) as part of what’s become a regional effort. We’re at King County’s Chinook Building downtown, expecting to see a group any moment that we’re told will include County Executive Dow Constantine and Mayor Mike McGinn. As soon as the “development” is announced, we’ll add it here.

9:20 AM ANNOUNCEMENT: The headline on the news release reads, “Proposal to extend jail contract clears way for cities to consider shelving plans.” Jail contract may be extended thru 2020, Constantine announces. Mayor Mike McGinn says that means an end to the jail-siting process. “This is good news, Seattle,” the mayor said, after Executive Constantine announced the proposal to extend the agreement. “Today as a region we will work together to do this.” Shoreline’s mayor has also spoken; that city was under consideration as a jail site. Details of the proposal, from a news release handed out here: King County is offering the cities 150 jail beds through 2020. In addition, they are proposing creation of “a regional jail planning and management group.” Negotiation of this proposed agreement will start next year. Councilmember Nick Licata says “We have pulled the plug on the jail-siting process – and I can almost hear the cheers.” (As we read further into the news release, however, it warns that if there is an indication for new capacity after 2020, the jail-planning process may have to resume as soon as 2013.)

9:34 AM: They’re taking questions now. We asked Constantine, what do you tell the people of Highland Park (and elsewhere) who went through two years of anguish – not to mention the time and money spent by the governments – was it all for naught? We have his entire answer on video and will add it later, but bottom line, he said, he wished it hadn’t played out that way, but it did, and it’s time to move on. (added 9:57 am, here’s his entire answer on video)

Regarding the possibility of needing new space in the future, he notably mentioned the possibility of adding on to the regional county jail complex in Kent. He also said that part of this regional jail process would involve figuring out who has space where so that it could be used more efficiently – including the new jail that is being built by the south end SCORE group. Constantine also said that a future process would be conducted more “rationally” – saying this one seemed to have been “sudden” (regarding the 2008 disclosure that more space was needed and planning for a new site would commence immediately).

10:35 AM UPDATE: We talked with two key behind-the-scenes people after the room cleared, and will include their perspective in a followup story – what’s next, and what’s to keep this all from revving up again in a few years? Meantime, the county has published the full news release about today’s announcement on its website – you can read it here.

Not all media events are worth mentioning ahead of time. But given the history of the jail-site fight in West Seattle, particularly Highland Park, dating back 2 full years now – we thought some would want to know about a media event announced for tomorrow morning. Here’s the exact wording of the advisory sent to us and other news outlets:

On Thursday, King County Executive Dow Constantine will announce a significant development in the regional jail planning process.

He will be joined by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, Shoreline Mayor Keith McGlashan, King County Council Chair Bob Ferguson and Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata.

Shoreline is one of the “North/East” King County cities that banded together a year and a half ago. It’s also home to one of the six sites that the group has been looking at – three are in Seattle (including Highland Park Way/West Marginal Way SW in West Seattle), one in Bellevue, and one in unincorporated King County – though the need for new jail space recently moved further into the future). The announcement is scheduled for 9:15 tomorrow morning at the County Executive’s HQ downtown; it is NOT a public event, but we’ll be there and will bring you details of the announcement immediately.

A new development in the jail-site fight: The planning process for a new municipal-misdemeanor jail is still moving ahead, with a West Seattle site (Highland Park Way/West Marginal Way) among the 6 possible locations. However, the potential need for that jail (in which Seattle would partner with other cities) is moving further into the future. Last fall, the city and county agreed to a 3-year extension of the contract for the county to handle misdemeanor offenders; by the time the proposal got to the Seattle City Council Public Safety and Education Committee today, it had become a 4-year extension, through the end of 2016. (Here’s the council bill; here’s an explanatory memo.) It doesn’t cover all the city’s expected needs for that time, warned council staffer Peter Harris, so they will need to keep contracting with Yakima (and possibly the new south-end jail) for some space. But the agreement requires the city to confirm that it has no expectation that King County will be able to handle its misdemeanor-offender needs beyond 2016, which means the jail-planning process continues, though Councilmember Sally Bagshaw noted, “There’s little stomach for building a new jail.” (As noted earlier, Bagshaw is in West Seattle tonight, guesting at the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting at 7 pm.) The committee voted unanimously to approve the 4-year extension; it goes now to the full council.

On the eve of Dow Constantine‘s swearing-in as King County Executive, we are reminded that he declared five months ago there’d be no new jail for municipal misdemeanor offenders if he got the job. As you may recall, Seattle originally was looking at two West Seattle sites for a possible jail to house misdemeanor offenders the county was at the time saying it wouldn’t be able to handle after 2012; then Seattle partnered with a few other regional cities to continue pursuing the project, and kept one West Seattle site (West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way SW) under consideration. Now, county councilmembers have approved a three-year extension for providing jail services – which buys time, though the jail-planning process continues in parallel. Read on for the county’s official announcement:Read More

There hasn’t been much news about it for a while, but a West Seattle site — West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way — remains on the list of possible sites for a regional jail to hold misdemeanor offenders from Seattle and several other north/east King County cities. And the city sends word this afternoon that the timetable for the next round of public comment has just moved back – the draft Environmental Impact Statement won’t be out till February, so public meetings aren’t expected till late February/early March. The process is laid out here; that’ll mean a full year elapsing between the last meetings and the next ones.

The planning process for a potential new municipal misdemeanor-offender jail to serve Seattle and several other King County cities has been proceeding fairly quietly, but proceeding nonetheless. West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way remains one of the sites on the list. Now, the City Council has released results of a study they ordered on whether drug treatment and other diversions could reduce the need for jail beds – read on for their news release, plus links to two documents related to the report itself:Read More

We were first to tell you about the plans for City Council President Richard Conlin and City Councilmember Tim Burgess to send the county a letter, asking for an extension of time before the county ends the city’s contract to handle misdemeanor inmates; the looming end of that contract is why the city’s been looking to build a new jail, with a site in West Seattle (Highland Park Way SW/West Marginal Way) among those under consideration. Today, the letter’s been delivered, according to this announcement we just received from Councilmember Burgess:

The Seattle City Council delivered a letter today to King County Executive Ron Sims and King County Council Chair Dow Constantine requesting a “ten-year (or longer) extension of the current agreement” that provides jail beds for misdemeanor prisoners arrested by Seattle police officers.

The letter from the Seattle City Council is attached, along with King County Ordinance 16200 (which states that “it is the intent of the council that the county should continue to be the primary regional provider of secure detention”) and the King County Executive’s signing letter for Ordinance 16200.

Read the letter here. It’s a three-page letter, followed by the six-page ordinance.

ADDED 4:13 PM: Statement from Mayor Nickels (we have also requested one from County Council Chair Constantine and are told it’s in the works):

“I appreciate the support of the City Council in urging King County Executive Ron Sims and the King County Council to continue to provide regional detention and community corrections programs. The city of Seattle has long advocated for a long-term extension of the current agreement with King County to house our misdemeanants. However, King County has maintained that it doesn’t have long-term jail capacity and a new facility must be built. For months, we have been engaged in a process with cities in northeast King County to find another option. If King County determines that it now has the capacity for a long-term contract, we would welcome a new agreement.”

ADDED 5:09 PM: And Constantine’s statement is in:

“I appreciate this letter from the Seattle City Council. I think we all acknowledge that incarceration rates have been trending downward in King County and that the rush to build a large misdemeanant jail—or two—now seems premature. We need to explore every alternative before we spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money. The numbers indicate that a new jail may not soon be needed, particularly if we increase the capacity and use of less expensive alternative programs, drug and mental health treatment, and housing.

“In King County, our average daily jail population is far below projections in part because of our diligent work in creating and promoting alternatives to incarceration. If we are going to spend more money in this area, it should go to programs that divert people from a life of crime.

“The right thing to do now is for the county to work not just with the city of Seattle, but with all regional stakeholders to revisit our projections and develop a plan that meets our shared long-term jail needs. The important thing is to begin this dialogue immediately.”

This apparently happened late last week but we can’t find any evidence of major coverage – just got a news release about it now. Opponents of the plan to build a new regional misdemeanor jail (with Seattle and several other King County cities partnering; they’re considering six sites including one in West Seattle) have filed Initiative 100, asking, among other things, for a public vote on whether to build a jail. (It’s also on tap for a forum tomorrow night, 6:30, Pigott Hall at Seattle University.) Here’s the initiative petition that will be circulated (note: updated that link late Tuesday to point to the copy finalized today). ADDED 4:46 PM: Just got a county news release about a County Council briefing today regarding the first drop in county jail population in five years – read on:Read More