Support Gets Stronger For Martin Hall Its Concerns Addressed, Spokane Looks Forward To Opening Of Juvenile Detention Center

People who once thought Martin Hall was a bad idea now consider its scheduled Nov. 1 opening a cause for celebration.

The new juvenile detention center, with 52 beds in a former psychiatric hospital in Medical Lake, has taken more than two years and $5.5 million to plan and build.

Nine Eastern Washington counties, including Spokane, have committed to cover operating costs and pay off the 20-year bonds needed to finance the project.

Among rural counties, the center is seen as a better way of housing teen offenders than the current system of shipping juveniles to jails sometimes 100 miles away.

Most of the complaints against Martin Hall came from Spokane County, where some people saw it as an overpriced enterprise that could drain money from other juvenile justice projects.

Spokane County’s Superior Court judges worried that Martin Hall would compete for money needed to improve the county’s own juvenile detention center.

Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen said she and her colleagues have resolved to use Martin Hall to the county’s advantage.

“One of our concerns was the quality of education programs offered at Martin Hall,” said Eitzen, who is serving a year’s rotation as the county’s juvenile court judge.

“After I heard they have contracted to use the same school district we’ve used at our site, I feel more relieved.”

Awarding a contract to manage Martin Hall and complete construction took longer than expected.

Correctional Services Corp. of Sarasota, Fla., will operate the center. The firm is considered one of the country’s leading for-profit managers of adult and juvenile prisons.

“I’m convinced this is going to be a great operation,” said Deral Boleneus, a Lincoln County commissioner and chair of the Martin Hall nine-county consortium. “But it has to have a high level of use. If it’s only half-used, that won’t be good.”

Boleneus said Martin Hall will be the first juvenile detention center in Washington state managed by a private firm. It will operate with a staff of about 40.

The past two months have involved lengthy contract tweaking to make sure the nine participating counties and the private operator understand the deal, Boleneus said.

The nine counties together have committed to use 27 beds. Beyond that, the plan is to offer Martin Hall as a juvenile detention center to other cities, counties and state agencies, Boleneus said.

“If the federal programs need space, we’ll also negotiate with them,” Boleneus said.

Spokane County commissioners have committed to paying for five beds out of Martin Hall’s 52. If operating costs run as expected, Spokane will pay about $173,000 for those beds next year.

The other eight counties - Adams, Asotin, Douglas, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Stevens and Whitman - have contracted for the rest of the 27.

Boleneus and other planners say the nine counties won’t see any price increases after 1998 if occupancy averages 42 people through the first year. If use is lower, the counties’ portion of the overall bill will rise, he noted.

The consortium has set aside $922,000 in reserves but plans to use that to pay interest on the 20-year loans used to build Martin Hall.

The consortium counties can also use more than the number of beds they’ve contracted for, he said.

Boleneus and others hope the first year’s operation of Martin Hall will resolve tension that has simmered between Spokane judges and county commissioners.

Spokane’s 65-bed juvenile detention facility is administered by the county’s Superior Court judges. For several years the judges have pushed for money needed to upgrade and add space in the cramped, 20-year-old juvenile detention center on Mallon Avenue near the Courthouse.

County commissioners say they don’t have the money to commit to a wholesale expansion of the juvenile center.

Tension lessened earlier this year after Spokane County commissioners approved enough money to remodel the Spokane Juvenile Detention Center to add 19 beds.

Eitzen said the other question judges had involved the transport of juveniles to and from court hearings. County officials said they didn’t want to add more transport costs and expected judges to go to Martin Hall to hold hearings there.

Now, however, Eitzen says both sides have agreed that Martin Hall will be used to house juvenile offenders who have been sentenced already.

“I see Martin Hall as a reasonable choice for detainees who have just been adjudicated and have detention of 15 days or more,” Eitzen said.

Eitzen said it’s uncertain how often Spokane County will send detainees to Martin Hall because the demand for space fluctuates wildly, she noted.

Three months ago, Spokane’s jammed juvenile center had to turn away youths who should have been serving time.

This past week, the detention center has plenty of extra space.

“Right now we’re at about 44 detainees. That’s as low a count as anyone around here can remember having,” Eitzen said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: OCCUPANTS The nine counties together have committed to use 27 beds. Beyond that, the plan is to offer Martin Hall as a juvenile detention center to other cities, counties and state agencies.