INSIDE
New jail request on Tuesday’s ballot

By Meg Olson

Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo figures it’s time for county residents to bite the bullet and pay for a new jail. Elfo said the county was today spending such a substantial amount trying to keep the current jail running that he would rather see it put into a new facility. “We’re putting millions of good dollars after bad just to keep the place together,” he said.

Elfo is one of the most vocal proponents of Proposition 1 on the November ballot, which will ask voters to approve an additional one tenth of one percent in sales tax. Elfo said the sales tax approach was the fairest as it targets visitors and residents alike, and a third of the county’s jail population comes from outside Whatcom County.

Washington sales tax is currently 6.5 percent and Whatcom County collects an additional 1.1 percent, for a 7.6 base rate in the county. The new jail facilities sales tax would generate $2 million in 2005, an amount that would increase with growth in subsequent years. The county’s plan is to build a $5.9 million interim jail facility next year on Division Street off Hannegan Road in Bellingham. The minimum security facilty is being planned to house 155 inmates, most of whom will be involved in work release programs.

In Point Roberts deputies say they issue citations instead of arresting at least 20 offenders a month for drunk driving, minor in possession or drug possession, because they know they can’t get them in jail. When they don’t show up for court and a warrant is issued, deputies still can’t touch them. “There are at least half a dozen here in Point Roberts we can’t take into custody because we can’t book them,” said deputy Jeff Turner. “We have the same problems as the rest of the county, just on a smaller scale.”

Wendy Jones is the county’s chief of corrections, in charge of running the jail in downtown Bellingham. The jail opened in 1983, she said, designed for 110 inmates and was quickly expanded to handle 148. “Our average daily population is now running at 253,” she said. “A month ago the peak was 269. At that point we have people on the floor, in holding cells, in shower rooms.”

Overcrowding in the jail is a safety risk for those who work or are incarcerated Jones said. Violence between inmates increases. “It wreaks havoc,” she said. “They get jammed in here, they have no privacy and they irritate each other. Assaults go up.”

As the population in the jail climbs over 200, Jones starts to look for ways to ease the pressure – by releasing people early. “I basically take a stack of files over to a judge and say pick 10,” she said. “I’m asking a judge to overturn bail. There are obviously files I won’t put in that stack but you have drug dealers, burglars, forgers, domestic violence assailants. It used to be when we had to look for early releases we went for the DUI, but those days are long gone.”

The jail is the only detention facility in the county, where cities, the county, border agencies and state patrol send those accused of criminal activity pending trial. If a person is sentenced to more than 366 days in jail, they will serve that sentence in the state penitentiary. Otherwise they will serve that sentence in the county jail. Government agencies who use the jail pay $61 per inmate per day.

Jeffrey Schwartz, a consultant hired through the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) acknowledged the jail was overcrowded, but not “horribly overcrowded” and therefore did not have the “runaway violence, suicides, staff problems and other by-products of horrific overcrowding” found in some county jails in the country. In his report Schwartz gives credit for avoiding “horrific overcrowding” to a policy of limiting bookings, put in place in 1991 and tightened in 1998 and 2000.

“Basically if you’re not a domestic violence misdemeanor or a felony, you aren’t going to jail,” Jones said. Under the booking restrictions people who are contacted for drunk driving, hit and run, trespassing, theft, assault, vehicle prowl and other misdemeanors are given a citation and directed to appear in court. “The offender population has picked up on this and they’ll tell a police officer ‘hey, you can’t arrest me, you’ve got booking restrictions, the jail’s full.’ The only thing the officer can do is write a ticket and they know it,” Jones said.

While the booking cap and early releases have avoided “horrific overcrowding,” it has led to policies that “go to the heart of the credibility and respect of the criminal justice system,” Schwartz found in his report, because it has led to a situation in which offenders, and especially repeat offenders, know there is no consequence for their actions. “The very fabric of the law itself is held in less regard by criminals and law-abiding citizens alike,” he wrote.

Many offenders given citations rather than being booked into jail don’t show up for their court date and warrants are issued for their arrest, but with no space in jail those warrants aren’t actively pursued. Schwartz reported that last year 1,732 of those warrants expired, effectively allowing those offenders to avoid any consequences of their actions, and denying the county and municipalities of a source of funding through fines.

A new $45 million 600 bed jail, expandable to 1,000 would be planned for five to seven years later, along with a new Alternative Corrections Center at $1.8 million. “Any unneeded space can easily be rented to other counties, the state and the federal government,” said Elfo.