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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Geiger may add 128 beds

Federal inmates housed in Kennewick because of overcrowding in the Spokane County Jail could be shipped back to Spokane under new proposals to expand Geiger Corrections Center.

The West Plains detention center run by Spokane County is considering adding 128 beds. County jail inmates would then be shifted to the West Plains, making space for federal inmates in the jail.

“I expect in the near future we’re going to find that we will be holding more federal prisoners here,” said Spokane County Jail Commander Jerry Brady.

The idea, discussed this month in meetings between county and federal officials, comes only a few months after the jail halved the 120 beds allotted to federal inmates.

Federal officials say the reductions forced them to move about 60 inmates facing trial in Spokane to the Benton County Jail in Kennewick, increasing costs for the U.S. Marshals Service and public defenders representing the inmates.

If the idea is approved by county commissioners, the new Geiger space would be filled by minimum- and medium-security inmates from the jail to make room at the Spokane jail for federal inmates.

The county would pay for the new beds but would be reimbursed by the Department of Justice through the rates it pays to house inmates in the jail, Brady said.

“We’ve already been advised by the budget people (and) by the commissioners that we will not in any way subsidize the federal government,” Brady said.

Geiger has seen tremendous change this year already. Space for an additional 150 inmates was added in an effort to ease jail overcrowding. The center also created a separate women’s campus. Both sexes previously were housed in the same building.

In the past year, eight inmates have absconded from the center, been improperly released or escaped from officers during transport. Geiger Director Leon Long said new razor wiring along the perimeters and other measures should help prevent more escapes even as the number of inmates increases.

The extra beds could be created by the end of this year by renting two modular jail units for about $700,000 a year, Long said. Or it could be done next year by paying $800,000 to remodel the center’s unused gym into cells. Neither figure includes extra personnel costs.

U.S. District Judge Robert H. Whaley has called the lack of federal jail space “a crisis,” noting a strain on resources and possible decline in the quality of representation for accused lawbreakers housed away from Spokane.

On average, someone from the federal defender’s office has to travel to the Benton County Jail daily, said Roger Peven, executive director of the federal defenders for Eastern Washington and Idaho. Increased travel costs the office in money for travel reimbursement (40 cents a mile) and in lost time paid in hourly wages (about four hours for a round trip).

One of Don Kellman’s clients was transferred back to Spokane after Kellman told a judge he could not be effective working between Benton County and Spokane. Kellman, a private attorney who sometimes works in public defense, said it would have been too difficult to get enough face-to-face time with his client.

“It’s essential to the effective assistance that we’re duty-bound to provide,” Kellman said.

Brady said the federal space was sliced, in part, to open beds for people wanted on misdemeanor warrants.

“It takes the people that we deal with on a daily basis, and it gives (officers) the ability to put more people into jail,” Brady said. “We were trying to increase the bed space for the people who really were creating problems in our community.”

U.S. Marshal Mike Kline, who serves Eastern Washington, said he understands the need to jail offenders for misdemeanor offenses. However, he said, space for federal defendants also takes possible lawbreakers off the streets.

“It is part of the crime problem in the local community,” Kline said. “It frequently gets overlooked that (federal inmates) are out of the same criminal pool as the rest of the criminals in Spokane.”

Federal money was used to help build Spokane County’s current jail in exchange for guaranteed space for 30 inmates. That agreement, however, ran out several years ago, Kline said.

If the plan to expand Geiger is accepted, the Spokane County Jail could become a regional hub for federal prisoners.

“Spokane has reached that plateau where the need for additional beds is, in my opinion, critical,” Kline said. “We’re not going to go away and neither is the crime problem.”