By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The city of Centralia will begin sending some of its arrestees to Yakima County, instead of using the Lewis County Jail, after negotiating a price for bed space that is substantially cheaper.
Centralia, similar to other cities and towns in Lewis County, has long used the services of the only jail in Lewis County. It’s run by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
Centralia Police Chief Carl Nielsen told the city council last week the fees the city has been charged increased significantly for the first time in several years, from $52.50 per bed night to $60.34.
As 2015 came to a close, the Centralia Police Department noticed a marked increase in the number of bed spaces they had been using, and began to look for alternatives, according to Nielsen.
The police department found that if they send individuals sentenced to more than 14 days to Yakima, the city could save approximately $10,000 over the course of the year, according to the chief.
Nielsen said the Lewis County Jail is still one of the cheapest places in the state to house offenders, but if he can find that kind of savings, he wants to do it.
Individuals arrested by Centralia police will continue to be booked at the Lewis County Jail, in Chehalis. And those convicted and then sentenced to less than 14 days, will continue to serve their time there, according to Nielsen.
The price negotiated with the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office is $54.75 per bed night, and includes the costs of transporting each inmate to Yakima, according to Nielsen. The chief said he wasn’t certain if the price included bringing them back.
Additionally, the police department is working with Centralia Municipal Court, to find circumstances in which they can avoid booking some arrestees into jail at all.
Nielsen said, for example, if a person is arrested on a municipal court warrant, perhaps instead of getting booked into jail, an officer will be able to re-cite them, with a new court date.
“Some (bookings) are mandated,” Nielsen said. “But if it’s a minor offense that we don’t have to, we’re trying to alleviate it for the minor offenses.”
The Centralia City Council approved Nielsen’s request to enter into an agreement with the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Take the high ground in all things, including and especially in a public disagreement.
Free Air,
And how many insults did they hurl at me before I did??? Just curious if you would like to acknowledge that as well.
Bo says:
The stupid guy is the one who cannot support his arguments with facts, but one who supports his arguments through unrelated personal attacks
– J Edgar Hoover
Bo,
Considering how many times you’ve lost your temper on this site and used the most vulgar of language against people with whom you have disagreed with; this is not exactly your best personal defense to use.
Ya, because criminals pay their bills……SMH.
Lewis county should take some tips from the east coast. They charge and bill each inmate for their incarceration. You’re the idiot that did something illigal. So rather than having 3 hot meals, a roof over your head, cable tv (not sure if they provide that in Lewis), hot showers and clean clothes…ALL FOR FREE per the county. SEND THEIR BUTTS A BIG FAT BILL! Why should my tax dollars pay for a frenqent flier? Hell I would rather provide all that to the homeless!!!
The police chief knows damn good and well that the price does NOT include a trip home for the offender.
The fact the chief is willing to lie and play stupid makes the entire Sheriff’s office look foolish at best and deceptive at worst.
lets play a story problem game with the info provided and add a few assumptions-the savings is $7.84 per night, and the annual saving is 10,000, lets assume the average 30 days in jail. 10,000 / 7.84 = 1275 nights / 30 days = 43 prisoners which equals potential 43 round trips to take them there and another 43 round trips to bring them back = 86 round trips. lets say one person ties up an entire day making this trip and their hourly wage incl. benefits is 50 per hours so it is a cost of $400 per trip and lets use a 300 mile round trip at .32 per mile = $96 dollars per day for transportation costs for a total of right around $500 per round trip x 86 trips = transport cost of right around $43,000, so I ask the question-are they spending $43,000 to save 10,000 per year -just asking
And how much money did Lewis County lose and Yakima County gain over this??? There goes revenue right out the window. This was a lose/lose for everyone involved. This will not be in place forever. Centralia Municipal Court is responsible for a very large portion of the inmates in Lewis County. Think of how much revenue our county just lost because they could not negotiate. Centralia PD is responsible for the majority of the arrests in the county. Really think how much that was just lost out on.
Yeah, any facts you care to share?? And you should also look up how much debt the County has incurred in collections cost trying this practice. It does not one any good. I am proud of Carl Nielsen. He is way better than Berg anyday.
The stupid guy is the one who cannot support his arguments with facts, but one who supports his arguments through unrelated personal attacks
– J Edgar Hoover
bo continues to go around spouting stupid things about things he has no clue about. tax payers in lewis county should be very happy that the jail is able to make money. felons like bo need a place to stay on a regular basis and should have to pay for himself. he says “he jail is one of lewis counties main sources of revenue”. so why are the people of lewis county foolish for making off of dumbass lawbreakers like bo. if someone wasn’t a criminal why would he be so upset about it.
Also maybe they should make the inmates pay for their incarceration. Let’s say that you post a cash bond or put your house up as bond. Then you are sentenced to a year in jail. They should take that $22k from your bond. If you are on welfare, SSI, or Social Security they should take your checks until they get your cost of incarceration back.
Another option would be the chain gang. When I lived in Georgia it was common to see the guys in white and black stripes in the chain gang working by the side of the road. A little work wouldn’t hurt these slackers, thieves, and druggies.
They had to raise the rates to pay for the lawsuits. Remember Wellington Waggener’s $300k. It was only brought to the public by a judge in the courtroom. Wonder how many other lawsuits they paid out without public disclosure?
$60.34 per night x $22,024 per year. It takes the revenue from 14 inmates on bread and water for 1 year to make up for the Waggener settlement alone.
Doesn’t this speak of the atrocities of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office all on its own??? !2 years ago the tax payers of Lewis County Built that $24,000,000 dollar jail. Just so some of them could pay for something they are not going to use. If a city in our great county can not afford to house their inmates in our own county’s jail, doesn’t that say something??? This just reaffirms my argument that the jail is one of Lewis County’s main sources of revenue. Why should our government pointlessly criminalize people to get themselves out of debt that they foolishly, and by their own stupidity put themselves in??? Incarceration should not be used as a way to get revenue!!!!!! The people of Lewis County are absolutely foolish for allowing the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to charge these ridiculous rates.
so the new chief thinks it’s a good idea to go through the whole proccess of issuing a warrant for someone for failing to comply with a court order (ftc) or failure to appear (fta) and just re-cite them and they will magically appear in court the next time.??? very few inmates who are serving a jail sentence are only serving time for centralia muni court. centralia will be the place to commit crime after they start this. the fact that they cite you for something won’t mean a thing. just ignore it cause they’ll just cite you over and over again. citizens of centralia must be very happy to have become a haven for law breakers.