Consultants assess Adams County jail

RITZVILLE – At the request of the Adams County Sheriff's Office, two consultants affiliated with the National Institute of Corrections spent three days last month touring the local jail, interviewing staff and reviewing data as part of a jail and justice system assessment.

On Jan. 18, they presented recommendations to representatives of the Washington State Patrol and Adams County Sheriff's Office, Prosecuting Attorney's Office, District Court and commissioners.

Their review was designed to take a high-level look at the justice system in Adams County, including an assessment of options for the currently-vacant county jail. Because their fee was paid by a federal agency, the county incurred no cost for the assessment.

The consultants were David Boucher, whose qualifications included a 30-year career in law enforcement, and April Pottorff, a formally-trained architect. Both boasted an extensive history in the design of correctional facilities, operational assessments and training.

Their review focused on two components - the justice system as a whole and the physical jail facility.

Regarding the jail, "Offenders come from the community, stay here while incarcerated, and return to the community when they're released," Boucher said. "So, local residents have a vested interest in what the jail is and what it becomes."

The county jail and current courthouse were built in the early 1940s.

The jail was upgraded in 1984. It's built on three levels and has a capacity of 30 beds, not including holding cells.

Sheriff Dale Wagner has been working with county commissioners to re-staff the jail and make it available again. In the meantime, the county is paying diem costs to house inmates in the Franklin and Benton County jails, among other locations.

In their review, the consultants considered various jail components including storage areas, the kitchen, housing units, stairs, corridors and showers.

"It was interesting to see your jail with a capacity of 30 beds operating on three floors, Pottorff said. "That configuration requires a higher number of staff than a facility constructed on one level."

In the room where inmate property is stored, they noted the current space doesn't provide security for small valuables, such as an inmate's watch or wedding ring.

"That's a liability," Boucher said. "When you lose something, a Timex becomes a Rolex."

Pottorff observed that the local jail has single- and double-occupancy cells, as well as cells with dorm-style bunk bed.

Since the 1990s, she said, fewer misdemeanor offenders are spending time in jail. Because more violent offenders tend to be incarcerated, dorm-style cells are no longer appropriate.

In addition, female and male inmates need to be housed separately.

"The bed arrangement should be aligned with the needs of the housing population," she said.

The consultants also observed several deferred maintenance issues including broken ceiling tiles and leaky pipes.

Looking at the justice system in relation to the jail, Pottorff observed that district courts often can't effectively mete out consequences for criminal actions.

"Individuals get a citation to appear in court, but they're let right back out because the local jail isn't available," Pottorff said.

Ritzville Police Chief Dave McCormick expressed similar frustrations.

"It isn't just a problem in the district courts," he said. "It's the effect it has on our community. We can't effectively enforce the laws. Offenders have an attitude that says, 'What are you going to do? You can't take me to jail.' So they roll up the window and drive off."

The assessment then turned to possible solutions.

"In your decision of whether to rehab the existing facility, build new, or leave it as is, you need to consider county population data and other factors," Boucher told attendees.

To keep misdemeanor and low-level felony offenders accountable, he also suggested alternatives to incarceration.

"Whether or not the court or jail can handle the influx of people committing crimes, law enforcement is still making arrests. We tend to focus on the end result," County Commissioner Jay Wiese said. "We don't look at the beginning - what happened to cause the problem we're in today. We don't deal with causation; we manage by crisis."

Whatever option is ultimately chosen, all agreed that funding will be an issue.

"If you ask voters to fund a new or remodeled facility, you have to be armed with defensible data," Boucher said. "Voters might say, 'You've got a jail. Why don't you just fix it up and use it?'

"Or they'll ask, 'Where will a new facility be built? What will happen to the old facility? How will it be staffed?'"

He encouraged participants to gain a clear understanding of the costs involved.

"You should know what it's costing to outsource to other counties versus operating the jail here," he said.

"Whether we ultimately build a new facility in this county, upgrade the one we have or keep doing what we're doing, there's a certain dynamic involved when asking taxpayers to foot the bill for these kind of projects - jails in particular," Prosecuting Attorney Randy Flyckt said.

"There are a lot of people who might say, 'I don't care if the jail is in bad condition. I don't care if it's a miserable place. I don't care if the heat doesn't work. In fact, in my mind, the worse it is, the better.

"Jail is supposed to be a miserable place. Criminals should learn that they never want to return there. Why should I pay to build a nice place for criminals?'"

Boucher countered: "Remember that people in your local community work there. They have chosen to make this their occupation. If you want to hire qualified staff, ask yourself, 'Is this an environment where they will want to work?' Consider also that most inmates will be in the jail for a matter of days. Your staff, on the other hand, will spend much of their career in that facility."

Flyckt said the biggest challenge will be developing consensus on a long-term plan.

Sheriff Wagner concurred.

"We need to figure out how to do this as a group. The courts, the commissioners and the Sheriff's Office all need to be involved in the decision-making process," he said. "For a long time, these issues have been ignored."