HomeMy WebLinkAboutCriminal Justice Mar 24 2026Whatcom 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 24, 2026
11:15 AM
Hybrid Meeting - Council Chambers
HYBRID MEETING - MAY BEGIN EARLY/LATE - ADJOURNS BY 12:00 P.M.
(PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON, SEE REMOTE JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT
www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil, OR CALL 360.778.5010)
COUNCILMEMBERS
Elizabeth Boyle
Barry Buchanan
Ben Elenbaas
Kaylee Galloway
Jessica Rienstra
Jon Scanlon
Mark Stremler
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Cathy Halka, AICP, CMC
Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final March 24, 2026
Safety Committee
Call To Order
Roll Call
Committee Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 11:20 a.m.
in a hybrid meeting.
Present: 7 - Elizabeth Boyle, Barry Buchanan, Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway, Jessica
Rienstra, Jon Scanlon, and Mark Stremler
Announcements
Committee Discussion
1. AB2026-240 Update by the Executive's Office on Justice Project process, financial outlook, and
timeline for delivery of additional reports
The following people read from a presentation (on file):
• Kayla Schott-Bresler, Executive's Office
• Jed Holmes, Executive's Office
They spoke about community engagement, a letter received by the city
mayors (on file), discussions the Administration has had with the Sheriff's
Office around project priorities and values, goals for and progress with the
Behavioral Care Center (BCC), that the existing $11.25 million State
allocation has been made more flexible to accommodate the BCC, work on
a behavioral health analysis report to help plan for design and operations of
the BCC, that they now have a Jail Capacity Analysis in hand and how it will
be used to help inform specialized housing needs in the jail, that clear
budget feedback is the most critical piece for moving the different
scenarios forward, and work being done on the scenarios for establishing a
ceiling for capital spending.
Councilmembers and the speakers discussed the presentation and the
additional following person spoke:
• Steve Oliver, County Treasurer
They discussed the allocation amount from the state and that there is also
$3 million of local funding that is contributed by Whatcom County and the
City of Bellingham, that costs for medical services for the jail are being
calculated on the current facility at this point until they get through the
programming exercise, what contractor performed the behavioral health
study, that $225 million is the budget cap that they are testing out right now,
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Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final March 24, 2026
Safety Committee
the additional revenue that would be provided if the cities are willing to go
out to 2035, that they are at a point where they need to pick a number (in
regards to the level of capital expenditures) that they think they can
comfortably take on, that the Behavioral Health Analysis touches on how
much they will need to operate the BCC, the differences between the BCC
and the Anne Deacon Center For Hope, that of the $225 million budget cap,
$205 million would be dedicated for the jail and $20 million for the BCC,
that the $225 million is just the highest they could go (if the cities are
agreeable to extending out) but they could always go lower, that the
Administration is not ready to brief the Council on the Jail Capacity
Analysis yet, what the charges in the jail might look like when the new
facility is open compared to now, concern with how the current interlocal
with the cities is written regarding if the jail reaches capacity for a period
of time and whether there should be a limit to how much the cities can push
the County to expand, a request that the revenue projections are
conservative when setting a budget cap, seeing an alternative scenario that
blends features from scenarios 2 and 3, leveraging local dollars and funds
and understanding how those investments are fitting into the broader justice
project, the Council being clear on what other information is needed to
make their decisions so they can decide sooner than later, when the Council
will have the information ( the Behavioral Health Analysis, Jail Capacity
Analysis, and an answer from the cities) so they can deliberate on it, that the
working hypothesis is that the $225 million is within the County's
borrowing capacity, and that the jail and behavioral health are
interconnected and neither is optional.
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 adjourned at 12:03 p.m.
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Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final March 24, 2026
Safety Committee
ATTEST:
V
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Cathy HalEcs.
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WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WA
Barry Buchanan -via email 4/6/2026
Meeting Minutes prepared by Kristi Felbinger
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Barry Buchanan, Committee Chair