Due to a lack of space at the King County Jail, the city of Seattle is considering a pilot program that would pay for beds at the SCORE jail in Des Moines for misdemeanor offenders.
The move would cost Seattle millions and is generating controversy in both cities.
The Seattle City Council Public Safety Committee held a special meeting to discuss the plan on Wednesday. Public comments ranged from full support of the plan to calling it “theatre.”
The pilot proposal would authorize the use of at least 20 beds and would cost between 1.5 and 3 million dollars per year, depending on use.
SCORE would house offenders for 24 to 48 hours. These would be offenders who would not be expected to return to prison after their trial date.
Joan Longnecker lives near the SCORE facility in Des Moines and is concerned about the possibility of Seattle offenders being released in her city.
“It’s scary. It’s scary,” she said. “Right now things are quiet, but if they start releasing them into our neighborhood, things could change.”
Richard Aldrich has lived near the SCORE facility for decades. He says he has no problem with the proposal “as long as they are not released directly from that facility.”
Under the proposal, Seattle officers would take offenders to the facility and court, but the city is still working on transferring offenders after their release.
The Seattle City Council could vote on the pilot as early as August 6.
A similar pilot program between the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, which operates King County jails, and SCORE was attempted last year to address capacity issues. After a few months, it was shut down because it was determined it was not profitable or sustainable.
