Spokane owes two months of unpaid jail bills totaling $1.3 million to the county after officials diverted $6 million from the state’s criminal justice sales tax to homelessness programs.
City leaders claim their jail costs are rising disproportionately compared to Spokane County, as the fund responsible for those charges sits nearly empty. However, county taxpayers are already footing the bill for nearly 2,500 felony offenders arrested within city limits, and data shows there is more to the story.
Mayor Lisa Brown, Chief Financial Officer Matt Boston and other budget officials painted the picture for the Spokane City Council earlier this month. In a joint budget meeting, staff shared data suggesting that the city’s jail costs increased by 78% from 2021 to 2024, while Spokane County’s only rose 10%.
Meanwhile, the city’s average daily population, or ADP, which is its share of inmates across the entire year, only increased from 10.3% to 13.9%. The county’s ADP fell slightly, from 83.8% to 82.3%, but its jail costs actually rose almost 30%, though percentages can obscure some realities of the situation.
Brown, elected in November 2023, inherited the jail crisis from former Mayor Nadine Woodward after taking office in 2024. Woodward’s tenure began in 2020 after her election the previous year. When she took office, the Criminal Justice Assistance Fund, which pays for those jail bills, held about $12 million.
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Author: Ray Hilbrich
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