Kingsgate is among six potential sites for a new regional municipal jail, a multi-city planning group announced Nov. 20.
Other possible locations include three spots in Seattle, one in Shoreline and one in Bellevue.
The potential Kingsgate site, an unincorporated area in King County and part of Kirkland’s Potential Annexation Area (PAA), is located at the Waste Management site at 13225 Northeast 126th Place.
“It’s important to remember that this is just the first step to identify a possible location. There’ll be a lot of opportunities for public comment,” said Marilynne Beard, Kirkland assistant city manager. “We want to hear any issues people are concerned about.”
State law requires cities to have a municipal jail because some misdemeanor offenses require incarceration.
Many cities in King County are contracting 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 separate buildings of their own.
Kirkland operates a 12-bed jail of its own at City Hall, “but we don’t have enough beds to meet our own needs,” said Beard, adding that the jail cannot hold female inmates or those with physical or behavioral issues.
She said Kirkland’s current bed need for inmates is about 30, but in 20 years that number is expected to grow to around 45 beds.
“At the end of the day, we have to figure out how to build additional capacity,” said Catherine Cornwall, senior policy advisor to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. “Not having a place … would not be an option.”
Twenty-three municipalities, including Kirkland, 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 for its members.
Preliminary estimates for building the new NEC facility put the cost at $174 million.
Developing and operating a jail collectively is thought to be less expensive than when it is done independently, according to NEC consultants.
The NEC group has decided to move forward with environmental reviews and public-input gathering for each of its sites.
One option under consideration would create an annex to the King County Jail in Downtown Seattle. Cornwall mentioned that this could be one of the more appealing alternatives.
“What kind of makes that option so attractive is that we would be able to take advantage of some of the support functions (of the existing facility),” she said. “They already have a kitchen, they already have a booking facility, and they already have a medical staff.”
A forum to discuss the potential unincorporated King County site will take place from 6-9 p.m. Dec. 10 in the Grand Ballroom at The Hollywood Schoolhouse in Woodinville, at 14810 N.E. 145th St.
An additional meeting to discuss environmental impacts is scheduled for Jan 6, from 6-8:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Lake Washington Technical College, located at 11605 132nd Ave. N.E., Kirkland.
The NEC will be looking to mitigate any impacts from the future facility, some of which could be related to traffic and safety concerns.
“We might look at what our release policies are, and maybe people end up being released in neighborhoods where they were arrested instead of at the (jail) site,” Cornwall said.
Municipal jails house only misdemeanor inmates and not felons, but that hasn’t traditionally made people feel better about having a facility in their neighborhood.
“I think just the fact that it’s a jail, people are not going to be happy about it,” Cornwall said.
For Kingsgate resident and former State Rep. Toby Nixon, a jail in his neighborhood leaves many questions.
“(Kingsgate has) the casino and several public housing complexes, and if we have the jail, too, will that give our area a negative image that gives the anti-annexation group more of an argument?” He said. “It’s possible the facility might be a benefit if it means (Kingsgate) gets additional police presence in the area, which is one of (the community’s) primary motivations for annexation.”
Nixon added that he wasn’t as concerned about the types of impacts residents might expect from a jail — traffic, noise or lights — as he was about the potential for release of inmates into the area. However, he suspects “most of the people in the jail won’t be hardened criminals (felons), but misdemeanants, and most will probably be picked up by family members rather than just wandering out into the neighborhood.”
For more information, visit www.necmunicipaljail.org.
Editor Carrie Wood contributed to this report.
