King County’s youth jail will continue to operate for at least three more years following a critical vote Tuesday afternoon. King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn joins KVI’s John Carlson to discuss the details.
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By a vote of eight to zero, The Metropolitan King County Council decided to keep the Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center (CCFJC) open through at least 2028.
The decision stemmed from a motion by King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn to continue operating the facility. King County Executive Dow Constantine initially proposed a 2025 closure of the CCFJC. The new timeline has been pushed back to 2028.
With the vote on Tuesday, the King County Council adopted amendments to strike Dunn’s motion and replace it with language that maintains the CCFJC for now, but also calls for continued talks with Constantine to find safe alternatives to secure juvenile detention.
In his original motion, Dunn wanted to force a vote among his colleagues to set a clear course on the future of the facility in light of the murders, assaults and robberies being committed by juveniles in King County.
“Crime is getting way worse and it would be a colossal mistake to shut down our brand new $230 million juvenile justice facility,” Dunn said. “We need to state clearly and unequivocally that that center will stay open for detention facilities.”
