Spokane council outlines capstone grant plan to add pretrial staff, navigator and sobering center design

The Spokane Regional Law and Justice Council on Jan. 8 discussed plans to use a capstone grant from the MacArthur Foundation to expand local pretrial services and to advance design for a crisis relief and sobering center near the county’s stabilization facility.

Council chair Mike (name on record not specified) opened the agenda item by summarizing the grant elements: two additional pretrial positions, a court-date reminder and warrant-avoidance function, a court navigator position and kiosks at courthouse entrances, continued bus-pass support and new community engagement work tied to the project.

Aaron Stromberger, the pretrial services representative who presented details, said the council expects “bringing on 2 additional staff” under the capstone. One position will be dedicated to relaunching a supported-release program in district court, with increased case management and a mental-health professional on the team. The second will focus on court-date reminders at arraignment and on post-miss-court outreach and warrant-recall assistance. “We’re hoping to use some of those candidates to fill those grama positions,” Stromberger said, referring to existing applicants being considered…