Seattle City Council approves SCORE Jail pilot program

SEATTLE — Today the Seattle City Council approved a pilot program proposed by Mayor Harrell to house some misdemeanor offenders at the SCORE Jail in Des Moines.

Due to staffing shortages at the King County Jail, Seattle police have been limited in the types of misdemeanors that are allowed to be booked in the jail. Those include charges that present a serious public safety concern such as assaults, sex crimes and DUI.

The result is Seattle is booking less than half of the misdemeanor offenders that they were booking in the jail just a few years ago.

The pilot program will allow Seattle to house up to 20 additional inmates at score. It is expected to cost the city between 1.5 and 3 million dollars depending on usage.

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.

The Mayor’s Office is also in negotiations with King County to loosen jail restrictions.

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