City of Seattle considering SCORE Jail pilot program for misdemeanor offenders

SEATTLE — Due to lack of space in the King County Jail, the City of Seattle is considering a pilot program that would pay for jail beds at the SCORE jail facility in Des Moines for misdemeanor offenders.

The move would cost Seattle millions and is drawing controversy in both cities.

The Seattle City Council Public Safety Committee held a special meeting to discuss the plan on Wednesday. Public comment ranged from full support of the plan to calling it ‘theatre.’

The pilot proposal would authorize the use of at least 20 beds and cost between 1.5 and 3 million dollars a year depending on use.

SCORE would house the offenders from 24-48 hours. These would be offenders that would not be expected to go back to jail after their court date.

Joan Longnecker lives near the SCORE facility in Des Moines and is concerned about Seattle offenders possibly being released in her city.

“It’s scary. It’s scary,” she said. “Currently 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 doesn’t have a problem with the proposal “as long as they are not released directly from that facility.”

Under the proposal Seattle officers would take the offenders to the facility and to their court dates, but the city is still working out the handoff of offenders after their release.

The Seattle City Council could vote on the pilot as soon as August 6.

A similar pilot program between the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, which operates the King County jails, and SCORE was tried last year to address capacity issues. After a few months it was ended as it was determined that it was not cost effective or sustainable.

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