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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Next Wednesday at the King County Council, the Law and Justice Committee will consider my proposal that states that it is the intent of the King County Council to keep the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center and open and operating, providing secure detention for juveniles who are alleged to have committed serious crimes.
For the past four years, there have been ongoing efforts to close King County’s juvenile detention facility. After years of discussion and debate, Advisory Committee members remain divided on key issues such as whether replacement facilities should have locks on the doors. Meanwhile, conditions at the facility have suffered as the County remains distracted by efforts to close the jail.
I strongly believe that closing the juvenile detention center facility is simply unrealistic. There will always be a need for a secure place to hold violent and dangerous juvenile offenders. Instead of investing our time and dollars into yet more studies and more debate, King County needs to focus our energies on improving our facility by providing more programming and more staff. This is the right thing to do both for the juveniles who are detained, and for the public, who should be kept safe from violent offenders. You can read more about this at The Seattle Times.
If you are interested in urging the Law and Justice Committee to adopt my legislation that makes it clear that the King County Council intends to keep the juvenile detention facility open and operating, you can provide public testimony at the next meeting of the Law and Justice Committee at 1 PM on Wednesday, June 26, either remotely via Zoom or in person at the King County Courthouse. If you have questions about how to access the meeting, contact Carson Coates at Carson.Coates@kingcounty.gov.
All my best,
 Reagan Dunn
King County Councilmember
District 9
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