Grays Harbor County officials continue to discuss the ongoing problem of overcrowding at Grays Harbor County Jail. Currently, the county seems poised to contract for housing with another county, likely Lewis County.

As of Thursday morning, the county jail had more than 180 inmates. The jail has only 179 beds. Several of the beds are empty, but they’re reserved for specific situations (female inmates, intensive management) further compounding the over-capacity issues.

“Given that there’s anywhere from four to six beds that are empty, that means that in general population male, I’ve got somewhere between 25 and 35 people sleeping on the floor at any given time,” Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott said at a special meeting with commissioners and others involved with the jail Thursday. “We’ve already got cells that were originally designed for four people that are housing eight, or we’ve got cells that are designed for two that are housing four.”

As the crowding continues, danger increases for inmates and staff.

“That becomes problematic for us because new people are invading other people’s space, tempers get short, and there are confrontations and altercations occurring in the jail between inmates,” Scott said. “That’s not safe for staff. It’s not just frustrating to the court, but it’s becoming a safety factor for us.”

In order to alleviate that burden, the jail administrators and Scott are suggesting the county contract with Lewis County. The hope is that Grays Harbor County could reserve some 20 beds and pay on a per-day basis. The cost currently is $68 per day per bed.

Grays Harbor County Jail staff would transport the inmates to Lewis County, and then when the sentence is complete Grays Harbor County Jail staff would transport those inmates back for release. That would mean additional county costs for staff time and vehicle maintenance.

Not all of the 180 inmates at Grays Harbor County Jail would be cost-effective candidates for a relocation to Lewis County. Some 75 percent of the inmates are in a pretrial stage. Those inmates awaiting trial, Grays Harbor County Superior Court Judge David Edwards said, do not, however, create an undue burden on the jail because many receive sentences that include time served.

“That really only impacts (the jail) if a defendant who was there was ultimately convicted and sentenced to serve some time less than that,” Edwards said. “If some guy sits over there for 68 days and has a trial on day 69 and gets sentenced to 6 months, it doesn’t make any difference. He gets credit for the 69 days he was there and he still has the rest of the 6 months to serve.”

Pretrial inmates also would increase transport costs for the county because county staff would have to transport those inmates back and forth from Lewis County for trial dates.

The local courts have offered to do what they can to help ease the jail crowding situation, Edwards noted, but the court would not look to ease confinement of inmates who may be dangerous to the community or who have no permanent residence and likely would not show up to court.

Upcoming programs through the county courts may prove beneficial to overcrowding. Drug court will begin this fall with a limited number of participants, but Edwards said the hope is to increase that number to as many as 50 people within the first two years. Drug court will offer alternative sentences — including mandatory drug testing and addiction treatment — to drug offenders who have committed no other crimes.

Other programs to treat opiate addition could help as well, Edwards said.

Commissioner Vickie Raines said the issue is larger than the current overcrowding situation.

“We need to build a jail,” Raines said. “We just need to find the money to build a jail. …”

While that may be the ultimate solution, it still does not solve the current situation, Scott said.

“Even if we had the money right now (to build a jail), there still is a space shortage,” he said. “For immediate relief we may have to review some options to contract for additional bed space.”

County budget manager Brenda Sherman noted that the county still is paying for courthouse bonds that will be paid off in 2023. When those bonds are paid off, the funds used to pay those bonds, some $700,000 per year, would again be available.

Commissioner Randy Ross asked that the Sheriff’s Office submit concrete numbers for the cost to contract with Lewis County, including how much it would cost in transportation.

No decisions about the jail were made during Thursday’s special meeting.