Phillips: Jail agreement ends proposal to build new jail in Interbay

April 14, 2011

Summary

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Metropolitan King County Councilmember Larry Phillips released this statement in response to today’s announcement by County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn of an agreement for use of the King County Jail as the primary provider of bed space for the City’s misdemeanor inmates over the next two decades

“What had been a source of conflict has become a partnership that benefits the County and the City. This agreement ends—with certainty—proposals to build a new jail in Interbay or any other Seattle neighborhood.

“For the next two decades, energy that might have been directed toward a divisive siting process can now be focused on the continuing alternatives to incarceration that have reduced the overall jail population in both Seattle and King County.

“This is also a cost effective and common sense proposal. Keeping suspects closer to the court they must go to and near the attorneys who will defend them makes more financial sense than transporting them from a remote site into Seattle. And from now until 2030, there is an agreement that sets reasonable and predictable fees for services that financially benefit both the City and County.”