Last week, King County Executive Dow Constantine called the 1980’s jail “obsolete.”
He laid out his proposed plans for the year in his annual “state of the county” address. Some of the issues he plans to tackle include addressing homelessness and increasing mental health resources.
The King County Corrections Guild sent a letter to Executive Dow Constantine opposing closing the jail without a proposed new corrections facility in the works. The proposal comes at a time when communities are facing record-level crime rates and jails facing a staffing crisis.
Executive Constantine wants to redevelop seven blocks of downtown Seattle as part of the proposed civic campus initiative. The proposal could develop some properties into commercial or residential buildings and give the closed administration building to Sound Transit. The proposal also means the downtown Seattle jail could close.
Those who work inside the jail have concerns. The King County Corrections Guild President, Dennis Folk sent Executive Constantine a letter against closing the jail without a replacement in the works.
King County Executive Office Spokesperson Chase Gallagher said in a statement, “Eventually the downtown jail will need to be replaced with something else – a place or places that meet the county’s mandate under state law but can also offer the behavioral health care and interventions that stop the revolving door and turn lives around. It’s a complex undertaking, and will require the whole of this community to work together to find the right solution.”
Issues have plagued the jail, the ACLU recently filed a lawsuit over its conditions and protestors demonstrated last week after six people in the correctional facility’s custody died in 2022.
King County does offer hiring bonuses up to $15,000 depending on experience level. The ACLU of Washington filed a lawsuit against King County alleging violations of a settlement agreement that governs conditions of those incarcerated in the King County Correctional Facility (KCCF).
ACLU-WA stated that the violations include staffing challenges, transportation to court, delays in mental health and medical treatment and transportation to outside medical appointments. According to a release, suicide rates are also getting higher. The statement reads, “there is great concern about ongoing mental health assessment, treatment, and out-of-cell time for those living in isolation units.”
The lawsuit was settled in 1998 and an agreement, known as the Hammer Settlement Agreement, was established. King County agreed to remedy overcrowding, poor medical care and inadequate staffing at its jail – the first of several successful ACLU lawsuits over conditions at county jails.
