Forks Mayor Nedra Reed asked Clallam County officials Monday to consider sending some of their misdemeanor inmates to Forks’ municipal jail.
The idea, Reed said, is to help open up space at the county jail, which is currently experiencing a bed shortage for prisoners.
“It’s a public safety issue,” Reed said after meeting with county commissioners and Sheriff Joe Martin at the Clallam County Courthouse in Port Angeles.
“[The county] is releasing prisoners early and have issues of inordinately low bails being set.
“That’s not fair to the public.”
As an example, Forks Police Chief Mike Powell said, two criminals will soon complete their time in jail in Forks, which has a total of 38 beds.
Both have outstanding felony arrest warrants and, in theory, should go directly to jail in a county facility once their time is up in Forks, Powell said.
However, they may have to let them go free because the county doesn’t have enough space for felony inmates, he added.
30 to 35 beds
“This is the kind of risk we can eliminate,” said Reed, adding that Forks can offer the county 30 to 35 beds at a daily cost of about $50 per inmate.
A number of issues need to be addressed before such a scenario can be implemented, said Dan Engelbertson, county administrator.