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 for the grant-funded roles.

Stromberger said the program will include a court navigator — a staffed, wayfinding role at courthouse entrances — and kiosks possible at the courthouse and the public safety building “to point people towards the right courtroom, office, department.” He told the council the county’s pretrial services dashboard is now public-facing on the county website and will be used to establish a baseline and report results back to the MacArthur Foundation.

Council members described operational changes tied to the grant. The board will shift a previously contracted supported-release program (previously run by Pioneer Services) under the county pretrial services unit to streamline operations. The council noted Justice Management Institute (JMI) is advising on program design and that the team has looked to examples in other jurisdictions, including a navigator program in Asheville, N.C.

The grant scope also includes an expanded community-engagement component. The council described work with Gwen Wright (identified at the meeting as affiliated with NACo and the MacArthur Foundation) to form a task force that would carry outreach into the community, explain processes and solicit concerns. Chair Mike said commissioners Amber and others are expected to serve on that task force, and additions from the core group and SRLJC will be invited.

On related operational technology, the council discussed statewide plans from the Judicial Information Systems committee to roll out a court-notification texting program for Odyssey courts; Spokane’s courts currently use a separate notification vendor (UpTrust). Tim (role on record: court staff) noted the statewide system may expand to courts of limited jurisdiction in time and underscored the potential for an additional notification channel.

Separately, county staff described a planned crisis relief and sobering center intended for 23 hours and 59 minutes of observation and referral. Justin Johnson (described in the meeting as the expected operator and county expert on waiver/billing issues) is working on operations; the facility is planned adjacent to the existing Mill Hill Stabilization Center parking area. The selection committee reviewing design-build proposals had narrowed to three finalists and expected interviews and a design recommendation in mid-January. Justin Johnson and county staff will also develop the RFP for the provider that will operate the facility and are seeking provider input during design.

Other items noted in the meeting: ongoing efforts to reassign the rideshare-funded service (deemed unsustainable) toward bus passes; recruitment and interviewing underway for pretrial and related positions; and plans for a future therapeutic-court dashboard. The county also reported electronic-filing and a backlog of court documents had been reconciled and moved to the Digital Archives at Cheney for public access.

Votes at the meeting were limited. The council approved the Nov. 13, 2024 SRLJC minutes by voice vote; Brianne Baggs recorded an abstention because she said she was not a member at the time the minutes cover. No other formal grant-approval motion was recorded during the public portion of this meeting.

What’s next: staff said they are interviewing to fill existing vacancies and expect to post or fill the capstone-funded positions; the pretrial dashboard will be used for baseline reporting; the sobering center design-build interviews were scheduled in mid-January; and community-engagement task force work will be developed and brought back to the SRLJC for scheduling and speaker assignments.