King County Jails end misdemeanor booking restrictions amid staffing gains

King County jails will lift remaining misdemeanor booking restrictions for all partner law enforcement agencies, starting Feb. 1, thanks to increased staff.

Previous restrictions, like daily caps, have now been removed for all law enforcement agencies connected to King County, following the City of Seattle’s agreement with King County last November to eliminate misdemeanor booking restrictions.

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“I want to thank our jail staff, who have worked tirelessly to safeguard the public and those in our care,” Executive Constantine said in a prepared statement. “The dedication of our jail staff and their willingness to go above and beyond, including putting in overtime, ensured we could accommodate every request for an exception for public safety emphasis work, even amid a nationwide staffing challenge. I’m delighted we have reached this milestone and can lift all remaining misdemeanor booking restrictions.”

The lifting of restrictions came with the increase of available corrections officers. Through focused recruitment efforts, including increasing benefits for retention and hiring bonuses, the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD) added 77 new corrections officers in 2023 and 102 in 2024 — leaving just 57 vacancies out of 503 total corrections officer positions.

There were approximately double the vacancies within DAJD 12 months ago.

“The restrictions at King County jails applied only to non-violent misdemeanors,” King County stated. “Felonies were never restricted, nor were misdemeanors that posed an imminent public safety risk, such as assaults, weapons charges, sex crimes, and alcohol-related traffic violations.”

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Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here