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Whatcom County finalizes jail standards, schedules WASPIC LEMAP assessment
Summary
County staff said the jail standards in county code chapter 1.28 have been revised and approved; the sheriff's office is finalizing policies in Lexipol and expects a WASPIC LEMAP assessment in July.
Whatcom County officials told the Implementation & Policy Reform Task Force (IPRTF) that the county has updated and approved its jail standards and is moving forward with external assessments and accreditation work.
The county rewrote the standards that live in county code chapter 1.28 and moved operational material into policy documents managed through Lexipol, Sheriff Tank said. "Before it was set up that if you change one word in a policy, then you had to ask for a code revision," he said. "So these policies through Lexipol will carry over." The sheriff said the work followed a direction from the county council and a change in state law.
Why it matters: The rewrite replaces an older, policy-heavy code with a concise standards document that points to detailed policies. Officials said the change aims to streamline future policy updates, improve transparency and align local standards with recent and pending state legislation.
Sheriff Tank told the task force the sheriff's office is finishing the policy documents and that the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPIC) will conduct an 8-person LEMAP assessment the week of July 14. Tank described the LEMAP assessment as "huge" and said it will give the agency and community "an idea of kind of where we are as an agency and where we need to go." Lieutenant Daryl Smith was also credited for substantial work drafting the policies.
Task force members and staff said the county intends to post the new standards online so the public can review them. Tank said the new approach will let the county change policies without changing the code each time and that some policies may be revised further to reflect operational needs at a new facility or a behavioral care center.
Officials also said the sheriff's office maintains separate medical accreditation relationships; WASPIC does not cover medical accreditation. Tank said the county recently received reaccreditation on the medical side and is using that contract to address nursing issues in the jail.
Ending: Task force members thanked staff for the work and said they expect to review the final posted standards and any WASPIC findings when they are available.
