PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County has struck an interagency agreement with the Port Gamble S’Klallam tribe to house its jail inmates at Jefferson County Jail.
Jefferson County commissioners approved and signed the agreement Monday. It approves charges of $69.50 per day per offender for a year.
The fee could generate between $30,000 and $50,000 in additional annual revenue to the county, said Steve Richmond, Jefferson County jail superintendent, in a memo to the three commissioners.
Tribe inmates will be housed in the Port Hadlock jail if there is room for them.
“If the space is available, we would probably see maybe three to four inmates a week,” Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Brasfield said.
The sheriff said it was the first such agreement with the tribe that he knew of since he began his first term of office five and a half years ago.
The agreement came about after the tribe contacted Richmond, Brasfield said.
The agreement is signed by Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Chairman Ronald G. Charles. The tribe’s reservation is at Point Julia in Kitsap County.
“It’s pretty standard practice around the state,” Brasfield said.
“We have one [agreement] with state [Department of Corrections] and various others.
“What it provides us is an opportunity to see a little cost recovery,” said Brasfield, adding that more beds would be filled.
“Every little bit helps.”
The jail facility adjacent to the Sheriff’s Office in Port Hadlock was built in 1986.
The jail was originally constructed to house 37 inmates, but has since been expanded to house an additional 12 minimum security inmates, bringing the total to 49.
