Update on regional jail in King County

On Nov. 20, a multi-city planning group announced six potential sites for a new regional municipal jail.

Possible locations include three spots in Seattle, one in Shoreline, one in Bellevue and one in unincorporated King County.

Many cities in King County contract with the county for jail space, but that arrangement expires in less than five years. A potential one-year extension is on the table, but King County claims it doesn’t have the capacity to house its own felony jail population beyond then. That means cities will have to collectively build a new jail or construct buildings of their own.

Twenty-three municipalities have banded together as the North-East Cities (NEC) municipal jail-planning group to formulate concepts for a new 640-bed facility that would house misdemeanor inmates. A team known as the The South Corrections Entity (SCORE) — comprised of Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Renton and Tukwila — is working to develop a separate plan.

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