By Cory McCoy
Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.)
KENNEWICK, Wash. — Franklin County commissioners took the community by surprise last week when they made a sudden move to take control of the county’s jail and courthouse security.
The decision was met with pushback from some residents and current and former jailers, who told the commission that such a move would not be quick or easy. They wanted to see a well thought out planning process.
While the commission didn’t spend much time discussing the jail changes at this week’s meeting, they now say they have a formal plan in place.
County Administrator Brian Dansel provided the Tri-City Herald with a copy of the county’s new jail transfer guidance document.
The nine-page transition plan acknowledges that the takeover presents the county with the need to make some significant organizational changes and details expected challenges. Some of the steps are already in progress.
The first step was passing resolutions to shift control of the jail, which commissioners did last week. Next the county will review its other ordinances to determine if any other resolutions related to the jail need to be altered.
Commissioners and county staff will work with the county prosecutor’s office to ensure they’re following the legal process set forth in Washington state law, they said.
Weapons and equipment
When it comes to transferring the guns, Franklin County maintains that while the oversight has changed, the jail is still legally the same entity, and that all of the equipment is the property of the county.
The commission also believes the jail and its corrections officer continue to operate with the same authority and accreditation.
The county is currently waiting on a judge to rule on whether Sheriff Jim Raymond violated a court order when he went into the jail Monday and seized 50 guns to be returned to the sheriff’s department.
They’re asking the court to find Raymond in contempt of the initial restraining order telling him not to take any weapons or equipment and return any he had already taken.
A second restraining order was issued Wednesday, ordering Raymond to stop trying to force his patrol deputies to disregard the first court order to leave the weapons and equipment in place.
Discussion of equipment comes up in several places in the transition document, noting that the county needs to be able to make a full inventory of the gear on hand and disentangle the jail’s resources from the sheriff’s office property.
A full inventory of all firearms, radios, security and surveillance equipment, office supplies and furniture, plus vehicles and any other tangible assets will need to be conducted. That will also need to include law enforcement systems and licenses.
Once that audit is complete, they can determine if the jail has enough equipment to fully function on its own.
Jail budget concerns
The commission’s resolution to take over the jail started the process for creating a new section of the budget. The jail has a roughly $10 million budget and employs 50 people, including three dozen jailers.
The county also will need to determine what staffing changes will be needed. The board already has hired a new director for the corrections department and a captain.
They’ll have to decide what support staff needs to look like and what costs will come with changes in that administrative structure.
They’ll also have to determine the age of the equipment and ensure replacements are properly budgeted for.
There will also need to be a separate analysis to determine how much the transition itself is ultimately going to cost Franklin County .
The county believes it has the legal authority to make the changes, including the transfer of weapons and equipment, without the sheriff’s approval, but intends to conduct a legal review.
The jail’s budget has been a concern for commissioners recently, pointing to a state audit that looked at two contracts involving the jail commissary and medical costs.
WA audit findings
Some commissioners have wrongly implied that $2 million was missing out of the jail’s $10 million budget.
Neither of the issues they say fed into the decision to take the jail were from a single fiscal year.
The audit looked at a commissary contract signed in 2018 that had stopped sending quarterly payments. When Commander Keilen Harmon was promoted last year, he reviewed jail contracts and identified the issue.
He was able to recover about $1 million that had not been returned to the county over the course of six years. He raised the error last year and it was discussed in November as the county prepared its 2025 budget.
The medical contract did not involve missing money.
That issue was about payment overages because of the rising costs of medical care. That had been addressed annually during budgeting, and commissioners approved increase requests, though not enough to cover the full costs, according to the county’s budget documents.
Ultimately the Washington State Auditor’s Office found that Franklin County lacked necessary financial controls and policies, and failed to properly oversee its contracts.
Jail contract issues
The county will have a new opportunity to examine, and possibly renegotiate some of these contracts, as they go about updating contracts for the jail.
Many of the contracts may have certain requirements for transferring control, so they’ll need to be addressed individually when those clauses apply, according to the planning documents.
Those contracts include food services, medical care, laundry, maintenance, inter-local law enforcement agreements, holding inmates for agencies such as the U.S. Marshals Service and more.
The county said ensuring continuity of essential services during this transition is of “paramount importance.”
Potential challenges
Inter-departmental communication and coordination, especially with the sheriff’s office represents one of the biggest expected challenges, according to the transition plan.
Differences of opinions about who has authority aside, the two departments are deeply intertwined and separating them is not a simple matter.
“The separation of the corrections division from the sheriff’s office represents a significant organizational change that will necessitate coordination and communication with the sheriff’s office. It must be noted that these transfers do not always go smoothly, and establishing effective protocols from the onset will be priority for a smooth transition,” said the plan.
Personnel challenges also are expected.
Commissioners have assured jail employees that no one will be fired, but such a massive overhaul could mean some job duties change.
Raymond has shifted duties among his command staff to fill in gaps left by the transition, according to a recent social media post. The jail may need to do the same.
Most of the corrections employees are represented by unions, and the county expects some negotiations will be needed for the changes.
“Open communication with the affected staff, addressing their concerns, and providing clarity on their roles and responsibilities within the new organizational framework will be essential for maintaining morale and ensuring the continued operational effectiveness of the correctional facilities,” the plan said.
Commissioner Stephen Bauman said at this week’s meeting that he had been meeting with corrections officers, trying to answer what questions he could.
The county also intends to create a new communication plan to ensure continuity with other local law enforcement agencies.
Court documents filed in the fight over taking weapons from the jail make clear that the county believes it has full legal authority to make the changes, but will address them separately if they need to.
It’s becoming increasingly common in Washington for counties to take over operating their jails and leaving law enforcement duties to the elected sheriffs. Most of the counties in the Tri-Cities area already have done so. Benton County took over its jail in 2019.
Legal battles
A Walla Walla Superior Court judge plans a hearing next week on the restraining order issues.
The entire Benton Franklin Superior Court bench recused itself due to conflicts of interest. Franklin County pays for part of their budget, and the jail manages their courtroom security.
It’s unclear which case Judge Brandon Johnson intends to hear first, but both are related to who gets the jail’s guns and equipment. The equipment also includes Tasers and other gear needed to stop riots and ensure jailers can safely transport prisoners to court and hospitals.
In the first filing, Franklin County is asking a judge to issue an injunction against Raymond and demand he return any equipment he’s seized from the jail.
The county is also asking that Raymond to be held in contempt of court after entering the jail and seizing guns Monday.
Harmon, who has accepted a job as the jail’s new director, also alleges in a court filing that Raymond blocked his entry into the jail, forced him to go to Raymond’s office for a conversation where the sheriff allegedly grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and pulled him out of the office.
Raymond has denied getting physical with Harmon.
The second case protects patrol deputies from being ordered to carry out commands to violate the other court order. It was filed by their unions on behalf of the sheriff’s department employees.
Franklin County is required to pay for Raymond’s legal counsel, because he is acting in his capacity as an elected official. Raymond still does not have a lawyer assigned.
He rejected an offer to have the Yakima County Prosecutor’s Office represent him because he wants an outside attorney he has worked with on other matters, according to court filings. That attorney was not available due to a conflict.
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