Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Corrections Contract topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County to consider a 5% increase in DOC per-diem on consent agenda; staff discuss operational limits
Summary
Corrections director said an existing contract with the Washington State Department of Corrections will go to the consent agenda with a 5% per-diem increase to $114.49; staff discussed low usage and reasons some counties decline DOC transfers.
Ryn Fox, the county director of corrections, told the board that a contract amendment with the Washington State Department of Corrections will appear on the consent agenda and increases the daily per-diem paid by the state by 5% to $114.49.
“We've had this contract in place for very many years, 20 plus, to hold their — what would be commonly understood as parole violators,” Fox said, describing the long-standing arrangement. Fox said the state’s annual built-in price increase is the reason for the 5% raise and that the county has averaged under 10 DOC inmates at a time.
County staff discussed why some other counties or cities decline to accept DOC inmates. Fox said space and medical/behavioral needs make some DOC transfers less suitable for local jails and that DOC has alternative facilities to which it can transport higher-needs individuals. “If we know they're gonna be a problem and put the county in liability and we know DOC has an option to take them elsewhere, we're gonna let them take care of their own high-needs people,” Fox said.
Fox said the county's DOC contract has been amended periodically since 2019 and that the county reviews the arrangement annually. No vote on the contract amendment was recorded at the meeting; Fox said the item would appear on the consent agenda for the commissioners to consider the following day.
Clarifying details recorded in the meeting: - Proposed per-diem increase: 5%, bringing the rate to $114.49 per inmate per day (as discussed on the consent agenda items for the next meeting). - Average DOC inmates housed at the facility: fewer than 10 (running average reported by staff). - Contract history: county has maintained a DOC contract; specific amendment history includes rate changes since 2019.
The meeting included questions about the frequency of rate review and the county’s liability-management practices for inmates with medical or behavioral needs. No formal action was taken at this meeting; the contract amendment was scheduled for vote on the consent agenda the following day.
