Cowlitz County corrections officials say rising mental-health detentions strain jail capacity, affect transfers to state hospital

Ren Fox, director of corrections, told the Cowlitz County commissioners that the jail’s population includes a growing number of people with serious mental-health needs, and that the county currently has 22 people at Western State Hospital.

That caseload and the jail’s housing layout have reduced capacity for routine bookings and for some Department of Corrections (DOC) holds, Fox said, and the county has previously restricted bookings when the balance tipped. “We currently don't have any booking restrictions, but we have had to restrict bookings in the past when that gets off balance,” Fox said.

Why it matters: County officials said mentally ill detainees sometimes must be held apart in single cells or separate pods; because many jail cells are intended for multiple occupants, isolating one person can remove several beds from service. Fox said the jail has roughly 76 cells in total and about 10–11 single cells that can be used for people who cannot be housed with others. He said, “So if you have 1 person in a cell that's meant to hold that many, that takes that many beds off the table that are not available to others.”

Fox described how legal and clinical processes affect placement. After booking, a judge decides on release or continued detention; for some detainees the jail requests that the judge PR (personal recognizance) a person so the county can arrange a DCR (designated crisis responder) evaluation and an ITA (Involuntary Treatment Act) referral to a hospital. Fox said the ITA pathway is used for misdemeanor-level cases; felony defendants generally go through Western State Hospital procedures.

On transfers to Western State Hospital, Fox said the county has recently been able to place people faster than in prior years because Western State has opened additional capacity. “They told me that they'll give me that information in September or October,” Fox said when asked how Cowlitz compares to other counties, and added that in years past the county had waited as long as a year for placements.

Effect on DOC and local arrests: Commissioners asked whether DOC warrants and county arrests compete for limited space. Fox said DOC holds are not new crimes but parole violations; the jail historically has limited DOC intakes to keep capacity for local arrests, and has the contractual option to refuse DOC transports when capacity is needed for local law enforcement. "With the Department of Corrections ... if it's a really high needs, high risk person, we're going to ask that they remove that person and take them to 1 of their own facilities or another partner agency of theirs," Fox said.

Staffing and overtime: Fox reported 49 filled corrections officer positions and six vacancies. The jail’s personnel budget for the year is $7,271,995, with $1,779,000 expended so far. The department budgets $433,000 a year for overtime. Fox said three open officer hires are in final stages and seven additional candidates are in background checks.

Other operational points: Fox said 30–40 detainees with mental-health needs is a typical range, and that the county currently has 22 people at Western State Hospital — a figure he called a record for recent years. He also said the county can restrict DOC intakes to protect availability for local law enforcement; if the jail declines DOC transfers, the state generally moves those people to other partner facilities.

What’s next: Commissioners did not take a formal vote during the briefing. Fox said he will continue reporting staffing and capacity data at upcoming briefings and that the jail is working to bring new officers on board to reduce overtime and increase capacity.