Grays Harbor inmates heading to Yakima
Yakima County is slowly making headway toward filling its jail. According to KIMA, new inmates from Grays Harbor will take up some of the empty beds.
The latest deal for Yakima could bring more than $1 million, but it doesn’t come close to recovering what it took to get into the jail business.
It’s not the final solution, but it’s a start. The state’s Department of Corrections could send 75 women to the Yakima County Jail.
“This contract is one piece that will continue to move us in the correct financial direction, helping our Department of Corrections,” said Yakima County Commissioner Kevin Bouchey.
Yakima County’s jail director said 30 new inmates will be coming over the next six weeks. If the number gets to 75, the county would get $1.6 million for the year. However, there’s no guarantee that many inmates will make it.
“They’re in the proverbial driver’s seat as far as how many numbers there are and how fast that transition occurs to Yakima County,” said Bouchey.
Yakima County has struggled for years to make money off its jail system. Right now, it has five contracts to hold inmates for other jurisdictions. Talks are going on with three more.
One goal is to ultimately open the jail at the fairgrounds that still remains idle.
There are about a hundred empty beds at the moment. No one is sleeping in any of the 300 beds at the fairgrounds.
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