REPORT CLAIMS NEW JAIL IMPERATIVE

Committee Opts for $12 Million Facility

The issue of whether or not a new jail is needed in Stevens County was
discussed at a public meeting hosted by the Stevens County Board of
Commissioners.

The Detention Facility Needs Citizen Advisory Committee, made up of
residents from all areas of the county, has spent the last 15 months
studying the Issue. They presented their formal recommendation to the
public at the Nov. 17 meeting.

The committee recommended building a $12 million dollar facility which
would be built to the south of the Courthouse and would Incorporate a
skybrldge that would connect to a renovated second floor of the courthouse.

Those attending the meeting were met with a comprehensive explanation
of why the committee was formed. the data gathered concerning costs of
operation of both the present facility and several alternatives, and
the committee's recommendation for a new facility. The inadequacies of
the present jail were-also detailed.

Need for Changes Obvious

The jail, which is now housed in the basement of the courthouse, has
several pressing issues that need to be dealt with. According to the
study, the jail's narrow corridors, blind corners, tiny cells and day
rooms present an ever-present danger to corrections officers dealing
with inmates. The cramped quarters can lead to aggressive behavior by
Inmates and 10 of the 11 permanent jail staff have been hurt while on
duty. One female staff member is on permanent disability because of
injuries she suffered while trying to help restrain an unruly inmate.

The cramped quarters also make it hard to recruit new corrections
officers, according to Corrections Chief Shane Moffitt.

Also, because of the lack of an outside exercise area, inmates cannot
be held for more than 90 days. This fact, along with the chronic
overcrowding of the present facility, which only holds 43 inmates,
means that Stevens County spends over $250,000 a year on out-of-county
jail keep costs by sending prisoners to Ferry and Spokane Counties.

Committee's Recommendation

The option proposed by the committee would Incorporate a new jail
building that would accommodate 116 prisoners.

Stevens County Sheriff Craig Thayer feels that this option would solve
most of the problems of the current facility.

Not only would a new jail of this size be more than large enough to
hold current jail populations, it could potentially generate future
income by renting out cells to other counties, Thayer said.

Other options studied by the committee spanned everything from
building a completely new Law and Justice Center which would
incorporate a new jail, sheriff's office, District and Superior
Courtrooms and related support space at a proposed cost of almost $22
million dollars, to simply remodeling the existing jail into a holding
facility and contracting with other counties for jail beds at a cost
of approximately $2.5 million.

Opinions Varied

Opinions from those attending the informational meeting ran the gamut
from outright objection to a new jail to full fledged support.

Nora Callahan, who has worked for many years as the executive director
of the November Coalition to fight stiff drug sentencing, felt that a
new jail would keep judges from considering alternative sentences.

"How much money are we going to spend on locking people up when maybe
we could consider some alternatives?" she asked.

Also speaking against the new jail was defense attorney Helen "Dee"
Hokom. She said she felt that officials should concentrate on the
committee's stated goal of reducing incarceration by 25 percent
through sentencing alternatives such as electronic home-monitoring and
work release programs.

Unfortunately, according to Stevens County Prosecuting Attorney Jerry
Wetle, such alternatives are unrealistic. "In my opinion, home
monitoring is a joke," Wetle said. "If you look at all the reasons
that a home monitored offender can use to legally leave their house,
you will find that he or she could be out every day. They can go to
the doctor, to the grocery store, to their counselor, to
church...there are just so many loopholes.

"I am philosophically opposed to home monitoring. I don't believe it's
punishment. One of the reasons for sentencing someone for breaking the
law is to hold them accountable and make them not want to break the
law again. Incarceration does that, with the embarrassment that goes
along with being sent to jail, as well as the misery of being locked
up," Wetle said.

"I tell judges 'I'd rather you not sentence them at all than to
sentence them to home monitoring,'

"It just isn't punishment in my eyes," Wetle surmised. "For this
county to go to the expense and trouble of setting up a
home-monitoring system, I think, would lose money rather than save
it."

Welte also pointed out that most felony offenders would not qualify
for home monitoring or work release. According to statute, an offender
is only eligible for work release during the last six months of his
sentence. Even fewer would be eligible for home-monitoring.

The current sentencing scheme in Washington State does not allow the
judge much discretion in the amount of time an offender is sentenced
to. In most cases, a judge must follow a strict sentencing grid that
stipulates a set sentencing range for each crime, which is increased
by their criminal history, if any. There is no alternative for the
judge except to declare an exceptional sentence, which most judges
hesitate to do because an exceptional sentence can be appealed while a
sentence within the statutory range cannot.

Other Supporters

Barry Lamont, executive director of Rural Resources, said there is far
too little money for social intervention to prevent crime, so a new
jail Is a necessity. Marcus Mayor Fran Bolt said, "It's just silly to
expect that the current jail, which was built when the county had
20,000 to 25,000 residents, is adequate now that we have over 40,000."

Stevens County Commissioner Malcolm Friedman asked those present to
help generate support for the new jail. "Unlike schools, jails are all
negative," Friedman said, "It's all our failure in society, and we're
building a monument to it.

"But what we have downstairs is not upholding public safety," Friedman
continued, "so I'll do all that I can."

Commissioners plan to hold another meeting In the next month or two,
according to commissioner Tony Delgado. "We just can't let the fire
die out," he said.