Spokane County to join imminent lawsuit over shortage of space in state juvenile detention facilities

Spokane County is prepared to sue the state of Washington, alleging failure to properly detain and rehabilitate juvenile offenders.

The county commissioners held a special meeting Monday and decided to join a Washington State Association of Counties lawsuit aimed at recouping the money spent by counties to house juvenile defenders – a responsibility that’s fallen on the local governments after the state stopped accepting minors and young adults earlier this month due to overcrowded facilities.

The state is required to house juvenile offenders sentenced to 30 days or more at one of two facilities in Western Washington: the Green Hill School in Chehalis and the Echo Glen’s Children Center in Snoqualmie. The former has become overcrowded in recent months, “leading to a deteriorating and dangerous situation” for staff and the young people incarcerated there,” according to a July 5 statement from the department’s top leadership sent to the counties association.

Green Hill went from 150 people in January 2023 to 240 in June, which is 30% above the facility’s capacity.

The department decided to stop intakes of new residents to help resolve the issue, which they announced publicly on July 6, forcing counties to keep recently sentenced offenders in county facilities.

While the lawsuit is yet to be filed, the association recommended pursuing legal action Friday with support from all 39 counties, said Commissioner Al French, Spokane County’s representative on the committee.

The association’s executive board is expected to move forward with the lawsuit Tuesday.

French said the department’s decision to stop accepting new residents has had little effect in Spokane County compared to elsewhere in the state. The county operates its own 39-bed juvenile detention facility as part of a nine-county consortium.

French said it was important the county get involved with the legal action to ensure the state is fulfilling its legal obligations.

“While it affects mostly counties on the west side of the state, it’s a pattern of behavior we don’t want to encourage,” French said.

The state Department of Children, Youth and Families planned to suspend intakes until the facilities reach “sustainable levels.”

“When too many young people are concentrated in small spaces it can escalate behaviors and limit the ability for therapeutic rehabilitation,” said Ross Hunter, DCYF secretary, when announcing the pause on intakes. “This was not sustainable. Our facilities must be safe, therapeutic, and functional.”

Illegal move meant to free up space

The potential lawsuit comes after weeks of litigation regarding what a Thurston County Superior Court judge found to be the illegal transfer of 43 young men from a juvenile detention center to adult prison.

Less than a week after the pause on new intakes was announced, DCYF transferred 43 people with adult sentences from Green Hill to a Department of Corrections adult prison.

Those transfers were done with no notice in violation of a settlement agreement reached less than a year ago with several residents.

Those residents, represented by Columbia Legal Services, sued over a practice of moving people ages 21 to 25 into DOC custody without a hearing, which was in violation of a 2019 law that allowed those youthful offenders to remain in a juvenile rehabilitation facility until they’re 25, despite being sentenced as an adult.

“They are to be treated exactly the same as juvenile sentenced people in the facilities,” said Sarah Nagy, staff attorney. “Just one day to the next, they had no notice. DOC showed up with a van and said you’re going to Shelton.”

The settlement required DCYF to provide a seven-day notice of the transfer and then must prove at a hearing the transfer is due to the individual’s behavior causing a safety risk, Nagy said.

The youth plan their time in the rehabilitation facilities carefully, Nagy said, because some services are free at the facilities that cost money in adult prison. There are also services available in juvenile rehabilitation that are not available in prison.

“Just the breach of trust I think is really important to emphasize,” Nagy said. “If you work hard and you focus on becoming a better person and you really make use of the time you have between your 21st and 25th birthday, you’ll be rewarded.”

Then on July 12, 43 people were transferred to prison with no notice to reduce general security risks due to overcrowding.

“This decision was not made lightly, but the security risks related to overcrowded facilities have made our current situation untenable,” Hunter said in a statement. “We have to prioritize the safety of young people and staff, and that it is safer for everyone when we have capacity levels that promote rehabilitation.”

Nagy and her team intervened, motioning for an injunction which Judge Anne Egeler granted requiring the 43 people to be returned to Glenn Hill.

Then Monday, Egeler denied DCYF’s motion to put the issue on hold until an appellate court could review her earlier decision.

“The transfer of 43 residents without notice or hearing was a blatant violation of the settlement agreement and the law it incorporates,” Egeler wrote.

DCYF said in a statement it would not comment on the issue due to pending litigation.

General security risks are not enough to transfer people, Nagy said. Instead they need specific concerns with each person.

“The young men they transferred are by and large model citizens, guys with college degrees and jobs and involvement in programing and mentorship roles who are really considered leaders in the facility by DCYF as well,” she said.

Nagy argued the overcrowding issue could be anticipated and prepared for in advance rather than this sudden transfer. Gov. Jay Inslee authorized DCYF to identify options for opening a small medium security facility to relieve over crowding. DCYF also plans to ask for funding to do so during the 2025 legislative session. The agency also plans to appeal the Thurston County judge’s ruling in this case.

In the meantime, the 43 men are in limbo while the court ordered a swift transfer back to Green Hill; they may not stay there long. DCYF is planning transfer hearings already to commence as soon as possible, Nagy said.

The young men were told if they work hard in juvenile rehabilitation they can make up for their past crimes and start a new life, she said.

“And that just got snatched from them all at once,” Nagy said. “Why should they believe anything they’re told about the rewards of good behavior anymore?”