King County youth jail survives tax challenge in state Supreme Court
The state Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to King County's youth jail.
The case involved the 2012 ballot proposition that raised property taxes to build the facility.
An appeals court sided with jail opponents who said the measure didn't give the county the proper authority to use the money.
But the Supreme Court rejected that argument on technical grounds. (Click here to see the opinion or read it below.)
The high court said the opponents had filed their objection years too late. It said that state law says such objections must be raised within 10 days of public filing of the ballot title.
The group EPIC, or End the Prison Industrial Complex, has filed several lawsuits over the county’s plans to build the Children and Family Justice Center.
Jail opponents want the county to halt construction and put more resources toward providing social services for young people rather than locking them up.
Jail opponents want the county to halt construction and put more resources toward providing social services for young people rather than locking them up.
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Gil Aegerter
Gil edits feature pieces and helps guide staff reporters through their stories. He previously served as interim digital director and online managing editor at KUOW. Before that he spent seven years with NBCNews.com, where he was variously a senior editor, editor-producer and features editor. He also worked 25 years as a newspaper editor in Anchorage, Alaska, San Diego, Wilmington, N.C., and Seattle. He also was a freelance researcher for NBC Olympics for the Games in Atlanta; Sydney, Australia; Salt Lake City; Athens; and Torino, Italy. He is a graduate of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, with a degree in photojournalism.
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