Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo recently distributed an open letter to the community to explain how he plans to control the jail population in order to bring the jail population to a safer level. Every city in Whatcom County was given a choice on how to deal with prisoners in the event the jail is deemed “full.”
According to Elfo,
Given conditions, County Executive [Jack] Louws and I notified all cities that contracts for jail services would not be renewed under the same conditions upon expiration at the end of 2015. It was necessary that future contracts stipulate the cities’ use of county jail services be reduced to help bring the jail population to safer levels and allow the County to meet its statutory obligations.
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Offers were made to all cities for contracts that would continue to facilitate booking all persons arrested by officers until their first appearance in court. I further offered to hold those offenders not released at their initial appearance until they could be transferred to another jail facility elsewhere in the state. I offered flexibility and to work cooperatively with all jurisdictions to ensure a safe, orderly and timely transfer.
All cities except Bellingham agreed to this arrangement.
Ferndale Police Chief Michael Knapp confirmed Ferndale has chosen to make arrangements, already in place with jail facilities in other locations in Washington, to transport, book and house Ferndale’s prisoners in the event the Whatcom Jail was unable to.
In summary, Ferndale Police are not expected to need to release prisoners due to overcrowding due to the arrangements in place with these other facilities.
Plans to build a larger jail facility in south Ferndale on LaBounty Drive failed to receive voter support in a 2015 election.