HomeMy WebLinkAboutCriminal Justice Mar 11 2025Whatcom County
Council Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360)778-5010
Committee Minutes - Final
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
1:35 PM
Hybrid Meeting - Council Chambers
HYBRID MEETING - MAY BEGIN EARLY (PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON, SEE
REMOTE JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil OR
CALL 360.778.5010)
COUNCILMEMBERS
Barry Buchanan
Tyler Byrd
Jon Scanlon
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Cathy Halka, AICP, CMC
Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final March 11, 2025
Safety Committee
Call To Order
Roll Call
Committee Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 1:45 p.m.
in a hybrid meeting.
Present: 3 - Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, and Jon Scanlon
Also Present: Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway, and Mark Stremler
Announcements
Special Presentation
1. AB2025-217 Report from District Court Probation
Jake Wiebusch, District Court Administrator, read from a presentation (on
file). He answered whether their officer to caseload ratio is right, and stated
he thinks it is but they would probably like to add an additional staff
member to the high -risk domestic violence unit. He answered what the
difference is between the District Court and Superior Court pre-trial units,
and he spoke about the differences in their processes. He answered if they
have any positive stories about people who have been through the various
programs.
Judge Jonathan Rands, District Court Judge, spoke about success stories he
sees every week.
This agenda item was REPORTED.
Committee Discussion
1. AB2025-183 Ordinance amending Whatcom County Code 1.28 Standards for Correctional
Facilities
Steve Harris, Undersheriff, gave an update on the correctional standards and
answered questions. He stated the foundational premise of this proposal is
to keep the correctional standards within County Code, preserving
Council's ability to make amendments as needed. Rather than presenting the
Council with hundreds of pages of policy to review, they have updated the
code language to align with current correctional standards. He answered
whether the policies will be online. He stated as soon as they get them all
updated they are going to be live online and they already have a lot of the
correctional standards posted. What is in front of Council today is just an
overview of what standards are, and for more specifics, they would refer to
actual policies.
Whatcom County Page:
Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final
Safety Committee
Galloway referred to potential scrivener's errors in the ordinance.
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.
Items Added by Revision
Other Business
Adiournment
There were no agenda items added by revision.
There was no other business.
The meeting,adjoumed at 2:07 p.m.
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Cathy Halka, Council Clerk
March 11, 2025
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WA
Barry Buchanan -via email 3/20/2025
Meeting Minutes prepared by Kristi Felbinger
Whalcom County Page 2
Barry Buchanan, Committee Chair