Category: Jails

City Council, immigration, Jails, King County

As City and County Consider Banning New ICE Facilities, Local Jails Are Exempted from Seattle’s Ban
Alexis Mercedes Rinck (l) and Teresa Mosqueda (r)

By Erica C. Barnett

City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck’s proposed legislation to bar new detention centers in Seattle, originally introduced in February, has been delayed and amended to accommodate other council members’ concerns about prohibiting new local jails even temporarily, as the original legislation would have done. The new version of the bill, which would explicitly exempt jails from the moratorium, went up online yesterday.

A brief recap: On February 13, Rinck announced legislation that would ban new detention centers, as well as jails, in the city of Seattle for one year. The bill, announced in tandem with King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda’s similar legislation prohibiting detention centers in unincorporated King County for a year. Both proposals contains an emergency clause to illustrate the urgency of passing the ban; in December, ICE quietly posted a solicitation for contractors to build a new 1,635-bed detention facility in the Seattle area.

Legally, because of the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, federal law trumps state law—meaning that ICE, putatively operating in compliance with federal law, can violate any or all of the local and state laws blue cities and states put in their way. But laws like regional bans on detention facilities—and other anti-ICE legislation, including an executive order from Mayor Katie Wilson barring ICE from using city property  and a proposal from Mosqueda that will have the same effect for county land—can create friction, Rinck said.

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“We still will have a law on the books, and if they try to challenge our decision, we will see them in court over this,” Rinck said. “It does force a conversation.”

Both bills are based on local land use regulations. They argue that any new detention center could have major impacts on “water, sewage and wastewater, transportation and parking, public safety, and public health” and that a moratorium would provide time to create permanent legislation on detention centers.

“Here at the county, we have explicit authority in our statute to ensure that land is being used in the public’s interest,” Mosqueda said. “Any detention center in King County is going to not only disrupt the local community, but it goes counter to King County’s interests in making sure that we’re promoting safety and well-being.”

Both bills are classified as “emergency” legislation, allowing them to move forward without the usual committee process. On both councils, emergency legislation requires seven of nine votes to pass—which gets us back to why Rinck’s proposal exempts jails from the one-year moratorium while Mosqueda’s does not.

According to multiple city council sources, at least two council members indicated that they would vote against Rinck’s proposal if jails were included in the ban, even though King County has no current plans to build a new jail in Seattle, or anywhere, in the near future. Banning new jails for a year could create an impression that centrist council members who will be up for election next year, including Maritza Rivera and Bob Kettle, are soft on crime.

Rinck can afford to lose two votes, but not three, and several other council members’ votes can be unpredictable when it comes to legislation perceived as “progressive,” as any legislation proposed by Rinck, one of the council’s most progressive members, inevitably is.

Kettle, the chair of the council’s public safety committee, did not respond to questions PubliCola sent on Monday.

Mosqueda said on Tuesday morning that no one on the council had raised an issue about the inclusion of new jails in the ban, noting that her legislation does explicitly allow renovations at Echo Glen, a youth detention center in unincorporated eastern King County.

Rinck’s legislation will be up for a full council vote on March 10. She said the bill will “buy some time” for the city if ICE does propose building a detention facility here. “I think this is worth fighting over,” she said.

erica@publicola.com

Courts, Jails, legislature

Legislation Would Give Prisoners Serving Long Sentences a Path to Release
Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-23

By Erica C. Barnett

State Rep. Tarra Simmons (D-23, Bremerton) is trying, for the third year in a row, to give people serving prison time for all but the most serious felonies a chance to ask a judge for a shorter sentence. Her legislation, HB 1125, would allow incarcerated people to petition a judge for resentencing—starting with people who have terminal illnesses or were convicted as juveniles and eventually expanding to include adults who have served at least 10 years of their felony sentence.

Because Washington state lacks parole, there are only a couple of ways for prisoners to have their sentences reduced, regardless of rehabilitation, their age, or changes in public attitudes toward nonviolent felonies that once carried long sentences. People seeking early release can ask the governor for clemency, but that’s a long shot—Gov. Bob Ferguson, for instance, hasn’t granted a single clemency petition in his term.

There’s a second option: Under legislation, SB 6164, that passed in 2020,  a county prosecutor can ask for a reduced sentence if they believe the original sentence “no longer advances the interest of justice. Since the bill passed, prosecutors have brought fewer than 200 cases before a judge for reconsideration statewide, Simmons said—a sign that the law is being underutilized.

Simmons’ bill would give attorneys for defendants the same right prosecutors have to ask a judge for resentencing, allowing prisoners (those who haven’t committed aggravated murder or multiple sex offenses) to make the case that they’re no longer a threat and deserve early release. “A lot people would be safe to now reenter the community, but we have no way out for these people,” Simmons said.

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Simmons, who was the first formerly incarcerated person elected to the legislature,, said she’s familiar with the argument from victims’ advocates that it isn’t fair to release someone who’s convicted a crime before they’ve done their time. “I empathize with that position. I was a survivor of crime long before I was incarcerated.”

But if a judge determines someone has been rehabilitated in prison and is no longer a threat to their community, “leaving them in prison for decades, maybe even life, for the purpose of pure punishment—it’s not giving people hope or an incentive to engage in rehabilitation,” Simmons said.

Washington has an aging prison population—nearly a quarter of people in state prisons are over 50—and the cost of keeping them in jail only increases as they get older. “It is extremely costly to house these seniors,” Simmons said. “We pay for their health care through the state budget, not Medicaid—and we get sued a lot for the lack of appropriate medical care at the Department of Corrections.”

A fiscal note for the final version of the bill last year estimated that it would cost about $1.3 million a year to implement, and save a real but “indeterminate” amount for the state. (The memo noted that there’s no way of knowing how many people will successfully petition for reduced sentences; new costs include additional victim advocacy staff and a flexible fund for victims.)

Simmons estimates that the state could probably save “in the hundreds of millions per year by looking at the people who have served a very long time.” Prisons, she said, “aren’t set up to be nursing homes.”

 

Addiction, Courts, Jails

Banishment Orders and Mandatory Addiction Assessments Haven’t Helped Drug Users, Court Records Show

By Erica C. Barnett

Since the city reinstated an old law allowing judges to banish people from certain areas if they’re accused of violating Seattle’s drug laws, two people have been arrested and jailed for violating Stay Out of Drug Area orders. The first case involved a woman who was originally arrested in Westlake Park in downtown Seattle after police looked into her open bag and saw a container with white powder inside; after spending almost two weeks in jail, she was banned from the central business district. Six weeks later, she was arrested again when police saw her in the area.

The second person accused of violating their SODA order was a man who was arrested twice within four days, both last month, for smoking crack in Belltown. He was banished from the Belltown SODA area but didn’t leave; instead, he was arrested again two days later when police saw him in the same area.

Both were referred into a “drug prosecution alternative” proposed by City Attorney Ann Davison to replace Community Court—an alternative to prosecution that Davison unilaterally ended. in 2023. (Public drug use and simple possession weren’t misdemeanors in Seattle until the city passed a law in 2023 enabling Davison to prosecute these cases.) At the time, Davison argued that community court was a failure, in part, because many people didn’t show up for their first court appearances.

Davison’s new “alternative” court option requires people to get assessed for substance use disorder—a step that’s arguably unnecessary for most of the people prosecuted for using drugs in public, since the Venn Diagram of people who use drugs on the street and those with addiction are basically concentric circles—and to stay out of trouble for 60 days. People can also choose to opt in to services at the court’s community resource center when they get their assessment.

A recent report from the King County Department of Public Defense, which provides attorneys to indigent defendants, found that just six of more than 200 misdemeanor drug cases Davison’s office filed between January and August of this year resulted in a defendant completing treatment or receiving a court order compelling them into treatment. As with community court, more than half of the defendants Davison prosecuted for drug use or possession failed to show up in court and had bench warrants issued for their arrest.

Tim Robinson, a spokesman for Davison’s office, said the drug prosecution alternative “connects the defendant to a meaningful drug evaluation and referrals to service providers” at the resource center.

Robinson noted the city attorney’s office doesn’t offer the drug prosecution alternative to everyone; people office considers “repeat prolific defendants” are ineligible, as are people who have been through the alternative process before. In contrast, “Community Court was mandatory for a wide variety of crimes, even for prolific repeat defendants,” Robinson said.

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One problem with Davison’s new alternative, critics have argued, is that it eliminates the mandatory services that were an integral part of community court and replaces those services with the threat of arrest, jail, and prosecution. For people with severe substance use disorders who don’t have a way of using drugs indoors and out of sight, this creates a ticking clock to avoid arrest, but doesn’t guarantee (or require) services that could help them stop using drugs.

PubliCola found eight cases over the past month in which Davison’s office referred defendants to the alternative court process. All of these cases are still open. In each case, the person arrested stayed in jail at least overnight; the woman who was arrested in Westlake Park for violating her SODA order was jailed for 13 days in July, when she was initially arrested, and another night in October, when she was found inside the downtown SODA area. Seattle pays King County a one-time fee of $279 for every misdemeanor jail booking, plus a daily fee of $386 for every day the person remains in jail.

When Seattle Municipal Court Judge Damon Shadid proposed a compromise alternative after Davison eliminated community court, he suggested eliminating this “Phase 1” engagement and jumping straight to Phases 2 and 3, plus a new fourth phase—a concrete appointment with a service provider, followed by short-term and long-term engagement phases that could include housing, treatment, and ongoing case management.

Instead, Davison kept Phase 1—requiring defendants to go to the resource center for an assessment—and eliminated all the other phases, replacing the carrot of services with the stick of arrest, prosecution, and potential jail time.

Robinson said Davison “continues to be optimistic that it can be an effective public safety tool that will create meaningful opportunities for positive impact on the lives of those who struggle with addiction.”

Davison is up for reelection in November. Her opponent, Erika Evans, got 56 percent of the vote to Davison’s 33 percent.

erica@publicola.com

City Council, homelessness, housing, Jails, King County, This Week on PubliCola

This Week on PubliCola: March 29, 2025

Cathy Moore earmarks $1 million to The More We Love, Sara Nelson talks housing in the stadium district, SCORE’s director defends the troubled jail, and more.

Monday, March 24

SCORE Director Calls the Jail “Safe and Secure” Despite Recent Fatalities and Claims of Substandard Care

After PubliCola reported on substandard conditions at SCORE, a regional jail in South King County where at least 11 people have died over the last two years, jail director Devin Schrum defended her record to a sympathetic Renton City Council committee, calling the jail “human -centered” and safe.

Tuesday, March 25

Cathy Moore Directs $1 Million for Survivor Services to The More We Love, Bypassing Competitive Bidding Process

Providers who assist victims of sex trafficking and other types of commercial sexual exploitation have spent months preparing collaboratively for a competitive bidding process for more than $1 million in new funding for a “receiving center” for survivors. Last week, they learned that Councilmember Cathy Moore had chosen to circumvent this process, awarding funds directly to The More We Love, a group that also holds the city of Burien’s homeless encampment response contracts.

Wednesday, March 26

JumpStart Revenues Flatten and Council Questions Plan to Mandate Earplug Sales at Venues

Last year’s JumpStart payroll tax revenues came in $47 million shy of forecasts—a potentially significant problem if the trend keeps up, since the city chose last year to use the tax, which was supposed to be dedicated mostly to one-off capital projects, to fill a $250 million-plus general budget gap. And Councilmember Dan Strauss’ proposal to require “loud music venues” to sell earplugs to patrons ran into some skepticism from his colleagues.

 

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Thursday, March 27

Seattle Nice: Council President Sara Nelson Talks About Housing in the Stadium District, Addiction Treatment, and More

Council President Sara Nelson was our special guest on this week’s podcast, where we talked at length about her successful proposal to allow new apartments in the city’s stadium district (and I asked her if this housing, located in a busy commercial area, was just a distraction from the real need for new apartments in every neighborhood.

Friday, March 28

Burien Racks Up Big Legal Bills Defending its Homeless Ban; More Glitches in Seattle’s New Workday Payroll System

The city of Burien, which completely banned sleeping outdoors last year, spent more than $200,000 in 2024 fighting a lawsuit by the Seattle King County Coalition on homelessness and several unsheltered Burien residents. And the city’s glitchy new payroll system, Workday, gave some city workers unauthorized vacation days and failed to pay others for premium pay they were supposed to receive in lieu of benefits.

Public Defense Union Raises Concerns About Constantine’s Pick for DPD Director

SEIU 925, the union the represents nearly 400 public defense attorneys and other staffers, raised questions about interim director Matt Sanders’ ability to lead the department amid low morale and concerns about caseload standards, and endorsed another candidate over their current boss. King County Executive Dow Constantine announced he picked Sanders for the job shortly before Sound Transit announced Constantine will be the transit agency’s new CEO.

Jails

SCORE Director Calls the Jail “Safe and Secure” Despite Recent Fatalities and Claims of Substandard Care
Renton Police Chief Jon Schuldt and SCORE director Devon Schrum

By Andrew Engelson

At a Renton City Council committee meeting last week, Devon Schrum, the director of South Correctional Entity (SCORE), defended her record and her staff at the jail, which is owned by six cities in south King County. “We are a human-centered culture,” Schrum said. “Our jail is safe and secure. … Our emphasis is on respect for all of the people that we come into contact with, whether that’s in the jail, their families, folks coming to the lobby, our police, professionals that visit the jail, or any attorneys that come through.”

PubliCola reported last month on 10 people who have died while incarcerated at the jail, along with one who died shortly after being released. Former staff and people previously incarcerated at SCORE described hostile staff, substandard medical care, and filthy conditions at the jail. 

Her voice cracking with emotion, Schrum said the deaths at the jail were “hard. It is awful. And [that’s] why we have invested so much in our staff, in the facility and our training and the equipment to try to prevent the next death.”

During her presentation, Schrum noted that SCORE’s medical and opioid treatment programs are accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and that SCORE spent at least $7 million, more than a fifth of its budget, on health care. The presentation was followed by just 12 minutes of questions, and there was no opportunity for public comment.

Councilmember James Alberson told Schrum she shouldn’t “feel like you’ve been called to the principal’s office. Because I think you have an excellent facility.”

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But Councilmember Carmen Rivera, an assistant professor in criminal justice and forensics at Seattle University, said that while she understands the difficult task SCORE and other jails face taking care of people with an array of untreated medical problems, she also finds it “unacceptable” that so many people have died at SCORE, and would like to get the number closer to zero.

“Before I demand any level of accountability or follow through, I want to check in with these families,” of people who’ve died in the jail, she said. “At the heart of it, people died — someone’s daughter, someone’s brother, someone’s uncle.”

Rivera was the only one of 45 city leaders from the six cities that own SCORE who agreed to speak to PubliCola about conditions at the jail. She said was disappointed that there wasn’t much opportunity to ask Schrum questions at last week’s meeting. She did ask Schrum about a $200,000 pilot program that will equip some SCORE residents with monitoring devices that track vital signs. Schrum said she hopes the devices “alert us that somebody is in crisis, maybe even before they do it themselves.” Schrum did not respond to a request for information about the pilot.

Rivera provided an email that Renton Mayor Armando Pavone sent to all Renton city council members in response to PubliCola’s reporting, saying the mayors of the six cities that own SCORE had decided “that the individual cities will not comment on the article or conduct interviews. We unanimously believe that the SCORE administration is best positioned to answer those questions and address some of the misinformation presented in the article.”

When Renton Councilmember Ryan McIrvin asked Schrum if she thought the jail was underfunded, Schrum said it was not, but that if her staff had a “wish list” it would be to add a second nurse to the night shift.

SCORE nurse Lisa Rogers, who told PubliCola she was fired for speaking up about substandard conditions at the jail, said she was the only staff member qualified to give full medical care during the night shift to more than 400 residents in custody at SCORE.

City Council, Courts, homelessness, housing, Jails, legislature

This Week on PubliCola: February 22, 2025
SCORE jail in Des Moines.

Unsheltered people challenge Burien’s sleeping ban, a new state proposal would fund mandatory affordable housing in new developments, and an in-depth look at the deadly SCORE jail in South King County.

By Erica C. Barnett

Tuesday, February 18

Unsheltered People Suing to Overturn Burien’s Sleeping Ban Get Their Day In Court

A judge held the first hearing in a lawsuit against Burien’s total ban on sleeping or “residing” outdoors in the city, challenging the city to explain how the ban would be applied and how it differs from banishment.

Wednesday, February 19

The City’s Maritime Industrial Area is No Place for Housing

In a guest editorial, representatives from industry argue that a proposal to allow housing on land just south of the two Seattle stadiums would be devastating to the local economy and dangerous for future residents.

Thursday, February 20

Seattle Should Follow State’s Lead on Inclusionary Zoning—By Funding It

Maybe Metropolis columnist Josh Feit takes a look at a state proposal that would require developers to include some affordable housing in projects they build around transit stations. Unlike previous proposals, this bipartisan bill includes a Republican amendment that would actually fund affordable housing, making it viable.

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Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth came on the podcast this week for a wide-ranging conversation covering everything from her recent vote against the recent “less lethal” weapons legislation to her position on density in the comprehensive plan. We also talked about efforts to shut down a longstanding nude beach in her council district.

Friday, February 21

Eleven People Have Died at this South King County Jail in the Last Two Years. Their Families Are Demanding Answers.

Reporter Andrew Engelson took an in-depth look at conditions inside SCORE jail in South King County, where at least 11 people have died in the last two years alone. Families of people who have died in SCORE custody, former medical staff, and people incarcerated at SCORE told PubliCola the jail is plagued by inadequate care, filthy conditions, and hostile staff.