King County Council is unanimous: keep the youth jail open

Members of the King County Council have moved to officially say the county’s youth jail should remain open.

The council voted last week eight-to-zero in favor of a non-binding resolution to declare its support for keeping the Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in operation – with some improvements.  

The move comes just over four years after King County Executive Dow Constantine pledged to shutter the facility by 2025

It was a promise made during the summer of George Floyd racial justice protests.

At the time – Constantine said his goal was “shifting public dollars away from systems that are rooted in oppression.” 

And he predicted that, “phasing out centralized youth detention is no longer a goal in the far distance.”

But since then, the goal has been getting farther down the road.

Earlier this year, the timeline for closing the jail was pushed out to 2028 at the recommendation of an advisory committee of community partners. And now, the county appears to be indefinitely delaying that push. 

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Guests:

• Tascha R. Johnson, Associate Executive Director of Choose 180 - a non-profit dedicated to transforming the juvenile justice system
• King County Councilmember (District 9) Reagan Dunn

Relevant Links:

• Youth jail should be improved, not closed, King County Council votes - KUOW