County staff propose one-year moratorium on new detention centers; ordinance would need broader scope than federal-only

Community Planning and Economic Development Director Ashley Rice presented a proposed ordinance to place a one-year moratorium on new or expanded detention facilities while county staff develop code updates and a work plan.

Rice said the proposal follows board direction from March and a three-county review of other moratorium approaches. "We reviewed other counties and consulted with our legal counsel," Rice said, and staff concluded they could not legally limit a moratorium to federal detention centers; the moratorium must apply to public and private detention centers. The draft includes an exception for a facility with an existing special-use permit.

Rice told commissioners that the moratorium would last one year provided the county has a work plan for code updates. She said the moratorium can be placed without a public hearing, but law requires a public hearing within 60 days of adoption, and the hearing could be scheduled for the June 23 business meeting or after the summer recess.

Commissioners asked staff to confirm whether tribal facilities, halfway houses or residential treatment programs would be affected; staff said those uses were considered separately and the draft as written applies to joint-confinement settings rather than other residential treatment categories. Commissioners also asked staff to confirm potential interactions with regional juvenile-detention planning already under discussion.

Staff said the moratorium would begin the code-update process and that any future docketed ordinance language and standards would be returned to the board for review. The board did not take final action at the work session; staff said they would bring the moratorium forward for consideration at the business meeting with scheduling for the required public hearing if the board proceeds.