SCORE Misdemeanant Jail Project

The goals of the SCORE Project are:

• To provide sufficient capacity to replace the jail space being lost when existing contracts are terminated
• Allow all inmates to be housed within King County
• Provide for long-range capacity needs of the owner cities for the next 20 years
• Allow for programming space for education, community transition and job training
• Provide jail services at a cost effective rate for the owner cities
• Provide operational control for the owner cities
• Provide jail services that are conveniently located for the owner cities
• Provide efficiencies for criminal justice partners

Project Need:

The current King County jail system does not work. It simply does not have enough capacity to house all the inmates that are in King County. As a result of the shortage of jail beds, King County notified the cities in 2000, that they would no longer be able to house misdemeanant inmates after 2012. Many cities have contracted with other jail facilities in Eastern Washington to house inmates as an interim measure. However, these contracts expire even sooner, in 2010.

While these contracts have provided short term relief for the jail crisis, they are not a long-term solution and additional capacity must be built. For example, the SCORE cities are currently using approximately 350 jail beds every day. However, the Renton and Auburn jails can only house 100 inmates, leaving a need for an additional 250 beds. This is the current deficiency. As the population in the region expands, the shortage of jail beds will become even greater.

One of the goals of the multijurisdictional facility is to provide efficiencies for our criminal justice partners. We know that there are efficiencies that can be developed in a multijurisdictional facility. For example, the SCORE jail will use video arraignment capabilities to reduce the number of inmates transported to court.

The new facility will also allow for program space for re-entry programs and community transition planning. More attention must be paid in these areas in an order to impact recidivism. SCORE is excited about partnering with King County to identify programs that can be delivered in this facility.