April 8, 2010 in News, City

Spokane wants cheaper jail costs

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The city of Spokane wants to spend less money housing low-risk inmates and will begin exploring cheaper options, including the possibility of creating its own minimum-security lockup rather than rely on the county jail.

The idea, which could include using a private jail contractor, caused tension this week with county leaders concerned that a city jail could torpedo a four-year regional process aimed at building a new countywide lockup and putting greater emphasis on rehabilitation. The county currently charges daily incarceration fees for housing inmates from the cities.

Despite that tension, Spokane Mayor Mary Verner and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich pledged at a news conference Thursday afternoon to maintain a partnership on jail issues – even while the city continues to explore the concept of running a jail for its misdemeanor offenders.

“It’s one of multiple options and no decisions have been made and those decisions, if and when they are made, will be made with our partners,” Verner said in an interview after the news conference.

Knezovich said the county will move forward with plans to select a site for a new jail to replace the aging Geiger Corrections Center. He hopes a proposal can be ready for the ballot in about a year. At the same time, the city will consider the possibility of starting a misdemeanor lockup. If that happens, Knezovich said the county’s plans would be reevaluated.

The sheriff said he stood with the mayor Thursday because continuing to work with the city is the only way to salvage a regional approach.

He added that it’s likely the city will discover that one jail system is cheaper than two.

“I truly believe that we as a community cannot survive alone anymore” Knezovich said. “Our budgets just don’t allow that.”

Dorothy Webster, Spokane’s general administration director, said the city will examine the possibility of opening a low-security jail that could be owned by the city, county or a company that would contract with the city.

“The city is just exploring its options, not trying to be competitive or obstinate,” Webster said. “We owe it to our citizens to explore every option we can in order to deliver cost-effective services.”

Verner called the city’s partnership with the county “fully intact.”

“I have requested meetings with the county commissioners and the sheriff because we want to see what their reaction is to this concept,” Verner said in an interview Wednesday. “It seems to have merit from our point of view. There could be cost efficiencies and process efficiencies.”

Spokane County operates the downtown jail and Geiger, a former Army barracks on the West Plains that houses low- and medium-security inmates.

Disputes between the city and county about the cost of housing inmates are long-standing, and the county’s jail rates have often irritated city administrators.

In less than five years, the county has tripled the cost it charges cities for housing inmates at Geiger.

In 2006, county leaders threatened to release city of Spokane inmates from Geiger because the city was refusing to pay its full bill. That year, the county increased its per-day cost of housing Geiger inmates from $41 a day in 2005 to $60 a day in 2006. At the time, the county charged $78 a day to house inmates in the downtown jail.

This year, the county is charging cities $121 a day to house inmates at Geiger and at the jail.

Webster said a misdemeanor jail could cut costs, in part, because guards may not need to be commissioned officers who typically earn higher wages and benefits.

Meanwhile, Knezovich said negotiations between the city and county are on track to allow the county to restart a corrections program aimed at reducing the jail population and keeping offenders from committing new crimes with treatment and job assistance. The county cut the program last year because of budget cuts and hopes the city will contribute resources to help restart it.

Knezovich said he hopes the program is running again by July 1.

Six comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  west on April 08 at 4:17 p.m.

  Unions will scream bloody murder! You can’t have low cost people watching prisoners! Its against the law!! lol

• 

  spokanesausage on April 08 at 4:22 p.m.

  For a Mayor who has stated that she is “open” to consolidation of services with the County she sure seems headed the wrong way.

  First it was the courts and now the jail. This is getting out of hand. Empire building?

  I agree the price increase seems a lot. But find a solution, have a third party evaluate before you go public with something that proposes growing duplication of government even more.

  Yikes.

• 

  lewis8457 on April 08 at 4:40 p.m.

  house them in tents at the racetrack, problem solved. During races they can serve hot dogs and such.

• 

  misjustice on April 08 at 7:58 p.m.

  Lewis, I like your idea!

  Seriously, perhaps we’d have the money to fund a new jail if County Commissioners had not spent money like drunken fools on a racetrack…

  I do not support hiring/contracting with an outside party; privitization is not the answer here. For profit incarceration is not the solution to this complex problem.

  Why do the costs keep going up?

• 

  Marie on April 08 at 9:01 p.m.

  Misjustice, When we stop funding programs that actually help people to change their lives then we are left only with incarcerating them. The County has been losing its tax base so they have to get the money somewhere else. Then cities figure they can do it cheaper, so the County has to find more money somewhere else. It’s a vicious circle.

• 

  Dazzeetrader11 on April 10 at 11:53 p.m.

  Speaking of funding….the plan is a bit of a mix. COntinue housing the ever expanding criminal population who need jail and will harmif they’re let go. Using a halfway house for those who need rehab and are not likely to re-offend or escape or cause harm…seems like the option being explored.
  SO there would be a need for a new jail but not out on West plains where there would be two jail campuses needing transport to and from plus two entire sets of staffing…and given that the Unions would be hot after this plan…it might be too expensive.
  Further, the Sheriff needs to get a grip on costs. The new jail’s budget is far from reality whenit comes to cost. Certainly, the prevailing wage costs driven and captured by the unions will price the labor out of existence. Lots of cost cutting can be had if the unions don’t “put it to” the city and county.

  Land cost are another consideration. If the County already wons land….saving can be had. Another idea is to have the private sector build the building and lease it back to the City or County. The project is big but the philosphies need to be better defined….this might lead to cost containment if the low likelihood prisoners can be housed differently. Still though, there are the harcores types that need strict confinement.

  Big problem but it can be managed if the parties think better as to their goals.