After tense meeting, Seattle Council OKs deal with Des Moines jail
The Council voted 8-1 to approve Mayor Harrell’s proposal, allowing Seattle to book misdemeanor offenders at SCORE.
by Josh Cohen
August 7, 2024
Tensions ran high in Seattle City Council chambers Tuesday as the legislators discussed approving a plan by Mayor Bruce Harrell to contract with the South Correctional Entity, known as SCORE, to jail people arrested for misdemeanor offenses for 24-48 hours.
Audience members shouted and jeered at the Council, resulting in Council President Sara Nelson calling for several 10-minute recesses and eventually kicking everyone out of chambers. Councilmembers returned to their offices to finish the meeting on Zoom.
Temperatures were already hot by the time the Council began its discussion of the SCORE contract. Seven councilmembers had voted to remove Initiative 137, the social housing tax, from the day’s agenda, meaning it would not meet the Aug. 6 deadline to appear on the November ballot. The measure will instead appear on ballots in February, likely alongside a competing housing proposal from the Council, a move that brought shouts of “shame” from the audience.
In the end, the Council voted 8-1 to approve Harrell’s jail plan, with Councilmember Tammy Morales again providing the lone “no” vote, as she had with the vote on I-137.
Through the agreement with the south King County cities that own the Des Moines jail, Seattle will get access to at least 20 beds at the facility. The city estimates it will cost upward of $3 million annually, depending on the number of people they book.
The exact crimes and circumstances for which Seattle will send people to SCORE will be determined by a workgroup established by the legislation to hash out the details and logistics of the agreement. Councilmembers and other city officials have said the current restrictions limit their ability to address shoplifting, property crime and trespassing. The SCORE contract will not take effect until the workgroup finalizes details.
Harrell proposed the contract with SCORE in response to King County’s limits to bookings for violent offenses, DUI and domestic violence at its Downtown and Kent jails. The limit on jailing people for less serious offenses began as a pandemic-era health measure. The booking restrictions have continued as the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention has struggled to hire enough corrections officers.
According to Publicola, King County recently began accepting bookings for misdemeanors committed Downtown, such as violating the city’s public drug use and possession law.
Tuesday’s vote marks a continued shift by city leaders back toward a carceral approach to Seattle crime and public disorder. The previous Council had emphasized diversion and community courts, arguing that jailing people for low-level crimes was costly and ineffective at preventing crime. Former City Attorney Pete Holmes, who served in that job from 2010 to 2022, had long shied away from charging people for low-level misdemeanors.
Councilmember Bob Kettle, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said Tuesday that he wants to strike a balance between jail and getting people into behavioral health services.
“If we cannot book those who need to be in jail, it often leads to continual challenges in our neighborhoods and all our communities,” said Kettle. “And to be clear, we believe in and support diversion first.”
Seattle’s contract with SCORE was criticized Seattle Municipal Court staff, public defenders and other criminal reformers, including for creating new logistical challenges for the criminal legal system and safety issues in the facility.
Seven people have died while in custody at SCORE since March 2023. The most recent death, which occurred last week, was reported by The Seattle Times minutes after the Council took its vote Tuesday.
In a letter to the County Council, King County Executive Dow Constantine rejected the claim that booking restrictions were contributing to public safety problems, since the jail makes exceptions to the rule for compelling cases. The executive argued instead that Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison has been ineffective at making arguments for booking exceptions.
Municipal Court staff said the agreement with SCORE will require more court staff, including marshals, and create logistical challenges for moving defendants between Des Moines and the Downtown Seattle courtroom.
Councilmember Dan Strauss introduced a successful amendment Tuesday that will require Harrell’s SCORE workgroup to produce a report about how to address the issues raised by stakeholders.
Councilmember Morales opposed the plan on multiple fronts, including problems with SCORE’s safety record and the investment in jailing people while the city faces a projected $260 million and growing budget deficit next year.
“Even if you disagree that a public health approach is more effective than a carceral approach, there are many operational issues,” Morales said Tuesday.
She continued, arguing that the $2-$3 million price tag did not take into account the overtime that Seattle police officers will get paid to transport people between SCORE and the Downtown Seattle courthouse, among other potential costs, and that the mayor had not identified sufficient funding to pay for the jail pilot.
“I cannot support a significant policy change that’s going to add to our deficit without considering all the implications,” Morales said.
Correction: This article has been updated to clarify that the King County Executive criticized Seattle leaders for blaming public safety issues on King County jails, but he did not criticize the SCORE contract.