SEATTLE (AP) - In a taped State of the County address King County Executive Dow Constantine gave a few more details on his proposals to close the King County Correctional Center in Seattle and to use the newly completed youth jail for other purposes.
Constantine said his budget later this year will propose a “phased closing” of the adult jail once the coronavirus pandemic ends, and he wants to remove all youth from detention at the new Children and Family Justice Center by 2025, The Seattle Times reported.
Currently 21 youth are in detention at the facility, Constantine said, down from 43 in March. The facility has been the subject of a yearslong battle, with activists opposing its construction, while supporters, including Constantine, argued the facility it replaced was rundown and inhospitable.
“It will take hard work and determination to keep the youth detention numbers at these historic lows,” Constantine said Friday from his West Seattle home to comply with social distancing. “But, with the confidence that we can, I will propose capital funding to further reduce the space available for detention and convert it to therapeutic and community use.”
The adult jail in Seattle, completed in 1986, is “decrepit and expensive to operate,” Constantine said, and “at some point must come down.”
It currently houses 1,300 people, down from 1,900 in March, as the county reduced its population to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The county does not intend to close its other adult jail, the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
Constantine said he also intends to send the Best Starts for Kids levy back to voters in 2021. The nearly $400 million early childhood learning measure was approved by voters in 2015.
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