Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council authorizes Yakima County jail interlocal agreement to lower long-term incarceration costs
Summary
Snoqualmie approved an interlocal agreement with Yakima County for non-guaranteed bed jail services to reduce daily costs for long-term commits; council vote was unanimous.
Snoqualmie City Council voted unanimously March 24 to authorize the mayor to sign an interlocal agreement with the Yakima County Department of Corrections for jail services, adding another option for housing long-term sentenced inmates.
Interim Chief Hiracy told the council the city previously used a mix of Sunnyside and Issaquah jail contracts to place sentenced inmates. Sunnyside accepts sentenced men; Issaquah has been used for sentenced females. Yakima County earlier paused outside bookings during COVID but recently reopened discussions and offered the city a lower daily non-guaranteed bed rate.
Hiracy provided comparative figures: Issaquah’s daily fee was described at about $150 per day with a $20 booking fee; Sunnyside’s rate was read as $204.97 per day with a $65 booking fee. Yakima’s offer is $125 per day for non-guaranteed beds and $172.92 per day when medical or mental-health services are required. Hiracy said non-guaranteed beds require staff to call Yakima to confirm space at booking time; guaranteed beds are more costly and are not part of this agreement.
Councilors framed the agreement as an additional tool to manage rising jail-service costs and capacity constraints. The motion to authorize the mayor to sign the interlocal agreement passed unanimously.
The agreement was presented as a cost-management step; staff did not indicate any immediate operational change in arrest or booking policies beyond using Yakima as another placement option when space is available.
