Booking restrictions active for Thurston County jail after facility reaches max capacity

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office has booking restrictions in place for the county jail after the sheriff, Derek Sanders, claimed the detention facility is running out of space for women, specifically those who are being housed there for violent crimes and undergoing mental health crises.

According to the sheriff’s office, the corrections deputies have utilized every available inhabitable space in the jail to house these inmates, including the transfer unit and the video court area — neither of which were designed to be permanent living spaces.

“The space issues that have been present for the past decade continue to strain resources at the jail,” Sanders said. “Failing to enact these restrictions would place the county in a high liability scenario, with risk of harm being placed on both staff and inmates alike.”

Probable cause arrests are not impacted at this time.

What does this mean for Thurston County?

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office stated it will continue to enter the warrants when those suspected of crimes fall out of compliance and a warrant is issued. However, if the warrant is not on their list of confirmable offenses, the warrant will be ignored and not confirmed.

Confirmable warrants include domestic violence assault, domestic violence order violation, and violent felonies.

Warrants that do not meet this threshold will not be accepted. Those crimes include second-degree burglary, auto theft, property damage, felony harassment, threats to kill, hit and run with injury, second-degree arson, fraud, impersonation, theft, and drug dealing.

“When conditions improve, the restrictions will be lifted. If conditions deteriorate, restrictions will be applied to probable cause arrests as well,” Sanders said. “The county continues to assess short and long-term solutions for space shortages pertaining to our violent/mentally ill population.”

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