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Clallam County refines jail‑cost and service allocations as Port Angeles and Sequim negotiate contracts
Summary
County staff updated commissioners on 2024–25 cost allocations across prosecution, public defense, municipal court and jail buckets for Port Angeles and Sequim; software and census issues drove notable fluctuations in jail costs, prompting requests for clearer methodology, faster contract drafting and consideration of outside legal assistance to meet deadlines.
County finance staff presented updated cost analyses for interlocal contracts with the cities of Port Angeles and Sequim, showing revisions to 2024 and 2025 numbers across four service buckets: prosecution, public defense (passthrough), district court municipal services and jail.
Staff said a major factor in Port Angeles' revised 2024 jail costs was software and census anomalies that misallocated incarceration days across years; after manual corrections, jail costs shifted materially and commissioners discussed methodology for computing an average daily bed cost and indirect overhead. "One of the nuances we found is our software was inconsistent on whether it counted incarceration for the previous year or the following year," a county staffer said, explaining part of the variance.
Commissioners and staff agreed on the need for clearer documentation and a draft contract (term sheet) to present to the cities. Several commissioners urged the county to consider engaging outside legal or contract resources to ensure timely drafting and to avoid indefinite extensions of the existing temporary contract.
Staff said they will review 2026 first‑quarter numbers, continue meetings with city finance teams and aim to deliver a draft contract/term sheet for negotiation. The work session did not include any formal contract approvals.
