KING COUNTY, Wash. — With the closure of the Regional Justice Center in Kent, King County is down to just one place to book people, the jail in Seattle. On Sunday night, that critical facility shut down without notice.
Dennis Folk, president of the King County Corrections Guild, was the first to sound the alarm Monday morning.
“It was my understanding that due to staffing they had to close the booking area,” said Folk. “They didn’t have enough people to safely operate it.”
According to the union representative, the facility closed around 9 p.m. Sunday and reopened at 6:30 a.m. Monday.
Hours after Folk made the announcement, Noah Haglund, spokesperson for the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, confirmed the temporary closure lasted roughly eight hours.
“Even with this temporary pause last night, the jail made exceptions for serious and violent offenses, and booked at least one individual into custody,” said Haglund. “Typically during the Sunday to Monday overnight shift, fewer than two people on average are brought to the jail for booking each hour.”
Folk claims that mandatory overtime and COVID have taken an already existing staffing crisis among correction officers from bad to worse.
“We’ve had staffing issues for several years now. We’re close to 100 positions down, but that booking area is vital,” said Folk.
Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecutor’s Office, was also aware of the short-term shutdown.
“Police officers, corrections officers, everyone is facing a staffing shortage that really impacts everyone countywide,” said McNerthney.
He said that when detention centers like this shut down, it’s the crime victims who suffer.
“They want to know that people will reasonably be held, and that’s what corrections officers and police officers want to (do),” said McNerthney. “It’s just a question of if they have the resources to do it.”