Bellevue ponders own short-term jail

Proceeds from the sale of 6-½ undeveloped acres in Bellevue, once designated for a regional justice complex, likely will be used by King County to build a short-term jail facility for misdemeanor prisoners.

Until put to that use, the land, along 116th Avenue Northeast near Overlake Hospital Medical Center, will be managed by the city of Bellevue, under terms of a preliminary contract reached earlier this week between the county and local cities.

The county bought the property for $4.2 million in 1996. Officials proposed 12 courtrooms and 350 jail cells on 250,000 square feet. But plans fizzled as the county started running out of money.

The sale is believed necessary because, under the jail agreement, the county expects to phase out its misdemeanor-prisoner population by 2012 to make more room for a growing number of felony prisoners.

That leaves 37 cities, including Seattle and Bellevue, which contract with the county for jail services, to find their own accommodations for people who commit misdemeanor crimes.

While cities plan on sending the bulk of those prisoners to jails outside King County, municipal leaders still want some kind of local, short-term holding facility.

Of particular concern are approximately 230 annual pre-sentence inmates, who need to make frequent appearances in local courts.

Shuttling them back and forth from a facility in Yakima County, for example, is not considered efficient. Representatives from the cities will begin meeting later this year to sort out details of the sale and determine whether to build a new short-term facility or expand an existing one.

Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com.