Snoqualmie considers Yakima County jail agreement for lower rates, medical and mental‑health capacity

Interim Chief Harase presented agenda bill AB25-044 to reestablish an interlocal agreement with Yakima County for housing long‑term inmates and for transports. Harase said Yakima had stopped taking outside inmates during the COVID period but reached back out last year; Snoqualmie used to have a pre‑COVID contract with Yakima.

Harase told the committee the 2025 rate with Yakima would be $125 per day for standard long‑term placements and $172 per day when medical or mental‑health care is required. He said those rates are $25 per day lower than Issaquah’s cited $150 per day and remain cheaper than other county and city options cited in the packet. Harase emphasized that Yakima runs daily transport routes and that staff can arrange special pickups when needed. He noted Yakima’s facility is larger (county jail) and offers medical and mental‑health capacity that Sunnyside lacks.

Council members discussed logistics: scheduled buses for releases and whether Yakima would accept female inmates. Harase said Yakima can accept female inmates for long‑term commitments and that for short-term arrestees who need easy transport back to court, SCORE remains the city’s practical option. Council Member Christiansen asked staff to ensure the contract’s notice section (contact information for written demands) is completed before finalization; Harase said staff would fill the blanks and coordinate with IT for notifications.

The committee agreed to move the Yakima interlocal agreement to the regular agenda so councilmembers could fully review the renewed contract; no formal council vote on the agreement is recorded in the committee transcript.