Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Corrections Use Of Local Jails topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Judiciary committee gives due-pass to bill clarifying use of local jails for state inmates
Summary
The Judiciary Committee recommended a "do pass" for House Bill 1344, which clarifies earlier language permitting the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to place inmates in local jails when state facilities are over capacity; sponsors said local sheriffs and the DOCR collaborated on the fix and no opposition was recorded.
The Judiciary Committee gave a due-pass recommendation on House Bill 1344, which clarifies the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s authority to use local jails for inmates sentenced to the department’s physical custody when state facilities are over capacity. The committee vote was moved by Senator Lewick and seconded by Senator Meredith; the motion carried on recorded aye votes.
Representative Pat Heiner, District 32, told the committee the bill corrects ambiguity in a law passed in a prior session that allowed the DOCR to place inmates in local jails and provide payment to counties. “That’s what this really bill was here all about is just to create this and to straighten this out,” Heiner said, describing the measure as a clarification rather than a substantive policy change.
Heiner said the language was negotiated with affected parties, including local sheriffs, the state DOCR and the sheriff deputies association, and that some local jails have agreed to accept additional inmates to help relieve pressures at state facilities. She said the earlier statute contained ambiguous references to a single warden versus two wardens, and the bill is intended to resolve that ambiguity.
No testimony in opposition or neutral testimony was offered on the bill during the hearing. Senator Lewick moved the committee recommend a ‘‘do pass’’ on House Bill 1344; Senator Meredith seconded the motion. Committee members recorded their votes in favor: Senator Castinetta (yes), Senator Luke (yes), Senator Myrtle (aye), Senator Paulson (aye), Senator Brownberger (aye), Senator Cory (aye) and Chair Larson (yes). The chair announced the motion carried and that Senator Lueck would carry the bill forward.
The measure was presented as a technical fix to earlier statutory language rather than a new policy about where inmates may be housed. Committee discussion focused on the correction to statutory language, the interagency collaboration to draft the bill, and operational arrangements with local jails; no amendments or competing motions were offered at the hearing. The transcript records no formal statements of opposition or conditions attached to the committee’s recommendation.
The committee closed the hearing on HB 1344 and adjourned until its next scheduled session.
