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May 13, 2010 – King County proposes jail contract extension; Seattle proposes ending EIS
On May 13, 2010, King County proposed an extension to cities’ jail contracts through 2020, and that the cities and county launch a regional jail planning and management group that will cooperate on monitoring and meeting the region’s long-term needs for jail capacity. King County's proposal is based on recent changes that provide an opportunity for the county and cities in north/east King County to meet their jail capacity needs through 2020 with existing facilities. These changes include a decline in inmate population in King County, which frees up jail beds in the county’s facilities, and more contracting options becoming available to cities to meet their needs for jail beds for misdemeanor offenders. These options did not exist when the North/East Cities started planning for a regional municipal jail in 2008. As a result of the county's proposal, Seattle is recommending to Bellevue, Clyde Hill, Kirkland, Redmond, Shoreline and Yarrow Point that they end the siting process for a new jail in north/east King County. (Seattle was the nominal lead agency for the north and east King County cities conducting the environmental review of potential sites.)
*Note these letters are representative of the respective letters sent to each group.
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