Expanding Geiger Gets County’s Nod Commissioners Also Approve Money For Drug Abuse Treatment, Electronic Monitoring

Fri., Sept. 13, 1996

By Dan Hansen danh@spokesman.com

Even with 110 beds empty, Geiger Corrections Center received permission Thursday to add 75 more.

The $438,000 expansion will allow the county to move more low-risk offenders out of the downtown jail and into Geiger, where incarceration costs are lower and inmates are sent out on work projects to earn their keep, said Mike Pannek, Geiger administrator.

The project will make room for an ever-growing population of criminals.

“The trends tell us the offender population keeps growing,” Pannek said.

County commissioners also approved spending nearly $100,000 for an inmate substance abuse treatment program and $88,000 for electronic monitoring equipment. All three projects are funded with a tax increase voters approved last year.

Geiger now has 450 beds and 340 inmates. After the expansion, it will have room for 525 inmates.

County commissioners approved the project on the condition that the center not be allowed to grow larger than 550 beds without a public hearing.

“What I don’t want is for the West Plains to become the incarceration center for Eastern Washington,” said county Commissioner Steve Hasson.

The expansion will rely on inmate labor to keep costs down, said Gary Oberg, county director of corrections.

Geiger officials first proposed the expansion in 1994, when they expected the number of federal inmates to increase from about 200 a day to 340. The county makes money on those inmates, who are primarily from the Spokane area, because the federal government pays $58 a day.

It costs about $35 a day to keep an inmate in Geiger’s casual, dorm-like cells. It costs $65 to keep them behind bars at the jail.

Instead of growing, the number of federal prisoners sent to Geiger has fallen to 180 a day. Competition from new federal prisons in other states and reduced sentences for minor marijuana charges caused the drop, Oberg said.

County Commissioner John Roskelley voted against spending money on drug treatment, saying Geiger should apply for federal money for that program.

Hasson and commissioner Phil Harris voted for the entire $626,250 package, saying Geiger can pay back the money for the drug program if it gets a federal grant.

Spokane County voters approved the 10th-of-a-percent sales tax increase by a slim margin last November.

The tax is expected to raise $12 million before it runs out in 1999. The money can only be spent on jails and related programs. , DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WALKING AWAY More inmates than ever are walking away from Geiger Corrections Center work crews. So far this year, 16 inmates have given guards the slip. That compares to 14 escapes in all of 1993, and 12 in 1994 and 1995, said Gary Oberg, county corrections director. Oberg said nobody has been hurt by an escapee in the 22 years he’s worked for the county. Many head to the nearest bar and return after a day or two to face stiffer sentences and lost privileges. A drug-treatment program approved by county commissioners Thursday should prevent some escapes, Oberg said, because fewer inmates will be looking for a drink. The center is screening inmates more thoroughly before sending them out with work crews, he said.

This sidebar appeared with the story: WALKING AWAY More inmates than ever are walking away from Geiger Corrections Center work crews. So far this year, 16 inmates have given guards the slip. That compares to 14 escapes in all of 1993, and 12 in 1994 and 1995, said Gary Oberg, county corrections director. Oberg said nobody has been hurt by an escapee in the 22 years he’s worked for the county. Many head to the nearest bar and return after a day or two to face stiffer sentences and lost privileges. A drug-treatment program approved by county commissioners Thursday should prevent some escapes, Oberg said, because fewer inmates will be looking for a drink. The center is screening inmates more thoroughly before sending them out with work crews, he said.