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Board approves Franklin County detention-use contract and DCYF bed-rate amendment
Summary
Walla Walla County approved a detention-use contract to provide weekend juvenile beds for Franklin County at Martin Hall and authorized a contract amendment with DCYF increasing the juvenile rehab bed rate to about $339 per day; staff said current local usage is low and capacity is adequate.
The Walla Walla County Board of Commissioners on May 11 approved two juvenile-justice actions: a detention-use contract with Franklin County to house youth at the Walla Walla Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) and a contract amendment with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) that increases the daily bed rate.
Norie Gregoire, Director of Court Services at the JJC, told commissioners Franklin County will begin contracting to use detention space starting June 1 and that Walla Walla will not be responsible for transporting newly arrested youth on weekends. "We will not be responsible for transporting kids," Gregoire said, and she added Franklin County will cover all medical costs beyond routine low-level care. Gregoire described the draft agreement as boilerplate and said the facility currently houses five to six youth in an 18-bed unit, with no current capacity concerns.
Commissioners asked staff to confirm contract language and to correct a typographical backup reference; staff said those edits were made. There was confusion among several participants about Martin Hall's county location; at one point a commissioner said he had pulled a county map and "Medical Lake is in Spokane County," which another participant later confirmed.
Separately, Court Services staff described a pending amendment to contract #25602787 with DCYF to raise the daily juvenile rehabilitation bed rate from $250 to about $339 to better reflect actual costs. Gregoire said the increase resulted from counties submitting backup cost materials and the state recalculating an average that more closely matches local costs. The board authorized the Court Services Director to sign the amendment and approved the Franklin County detention-use contract; both actions passed by voice vote, 3-0.
The approvals are procedural authorizations for intergovernmental agreements and a state-contract amendment; commissioners asked staff to ensure the contracts use correct jurisdiction names and to notify the clerk of any final edits.
