Everett Says “Stop” To Jail Bus Ticket Plan

November 19, 2015

Everett, Everett Government

Bus ticket out of town not good enough for City of Everett

Bus ticket

Everett wants cities releasing inmates to pick them up, not just provide a bus ticket.

Monday we told you about the proposed contract between the City of Seattle and the Snohomish County Jail to house Seattle prisoners in Everett and then release them with a bus ticket home.

The agreement would save the City of Seattle about $1 million dollars in jail costs in the course of a year over housing them in the King County jail.

The Seattle City Council budget committee approved the idea and the Mayor of Seattle is expected to sign the agreement and send it to the Snohomish County Council for approval later this month.

One portion of that contract bothers Everett City leaders. It calls for Seattle to only provide a voucher to the prisoner for transportation back to Seattle once they have served their time.

Everett wants to see more than return bus tickets for Seattle and any other city who has a contract to house prisoners at the Snohomish County Jail. Everett wants a clause that requires the prisoner to be physically transported to the city of arrest or to be physically picked up by a relative. Here’s the email reply to our question on how the city view’s the bus ticket arrangements from Meghan Pembroke at the City of Everett…

The City and Everett Police Department support returning released inmates to their city of arrest, and we are in discussions with Snohomish County about the transport provision as it is currently outlined in the proposed contract. One of the priority recommendations of the Community Streets Initiative task force addressed this issue: “Ensure released inmates and other dislocated individuals (for example, those released from emergency rooms or other facilities) are returned to their place of origin or where relational support is present.” 

Everett does have a contract with Yakima County to house prisoners on both a short and long term basis. Pembroke tells MyEverettNews.com via email how they view their release agreement with Yakima County…

Legally, once an inmate has been released (on bail or after they’ve completed their sentence), we cannot require them to remain at a location. However, Yakima County is committed to returning inmates to Everett and not releasing them on their streets, so they provide transport for inmates back to Everett following their release (as described on the first page of the contract).

Here is the contract between Everett and Yakima.

Later this month the proposed contract between Seattle and Snohomish County will come before the Snohomish County Council for approval and City of Everett leaders say they will be at that hearing to speak against the contract if it does not provide for more than a bus ticket back to Seattle.

Everett is also asking that all other jail contracts that only provide a bus ticket back to the city of arrest either be amended to include the provision of physical return to the city of arrest or to add that provision to the contract once it is up for renewal.

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