Cashmere approves new jail contract shifting city to per-day costs

CASHMERE — Cashmere will pay for jail services based on the number of days its offenders actually spend behind bars next year under a new agreement that could substantially reduce the city’s costs if recent incarceration trends continue.

The City Council unanimously approved a one-year 2027 agreement with the Chelan County Regional Justice Center on Sept. 14, setting Cashmere’s rate at $213 per bed day rather than calculating its payments from a three-year average of previous jail use.

Regional Justice Center Director Chris Sharp said the county proposed the one-year experiment as a way to make jail services more affordable for smaller cities while determining whether a per-day model can adequately cover the jail’s costs.

Cashmere recorded 213 bed days in 2023 before jumping to 671 in 2024, which Sharp called an anomaly. Usage then fell to 119 bed days in 2025 and 54 through July of this year.

Sharp said that under the proposed $213 rate, those 54 bed days would have cost Cashmere $11,502. Under its current agreement, the city had paid $72,289 over the same period.

“The reality is this one actually takes you down and saves money unless you have people that stay in jail,” Sharp said.

The savings are not guaranteed. Sharp said neither the jail nor the city controls how many people are arrested, how long they remain incarcerated or what sentences courts impose. A single offender serving a lengthy misdemeanor sentence could substantially increase Cashmere’s costs under the per-day system.

The agreement also changes how participating jurisdictions contribute toward capital improvements at the jail.

Sharp said the jail would normally budget about $500,000 annually for capital improvements and distribute that expense among the agencies using the facility. Under the new arrangement, the county did not include that $500,000 at the beginning of the budget. Instead, money generated when inmates have charges from multiple jurisdictions will be directed toward capital improvements.

Sharp described the arrangement as a financial risk for Chelan County and said commissioners agreed to test it for a year before deciding how future contracts should be structured.

Councilmember Chris Carlson challenged that characterization.

“I don’t think Chelan County’s taking any risk,” Carlson said. “They’ll pass the cost.”

Sharp disagreed, telling Carlson the county assumes substantial liability simply by accepting and caring for inmates.

“You are definitely entitled to your opinion, Councilman, that’s for sure,” Sharp said. “But I’ve been doing this for 27 years and they are taking a lot of risk.”

Carlson acknowledged that the jail has increasingly become a de facto detoxification and mental health facility but argued that if costs rise sufficiently, the county can ultimately return to the cities for additional money.

Sharp said conditions inside the jail have changed dramatically in recent years, with some inmates arriving in serious medical condition and requiring extensive monitoring, treatment or hospitalization before they can safely enter the general population.

He also pointed to sharply rising operating expenses. The jail’s tort liability insurance, he said, increased from about $400,000 to $800,000, while staff training, medical services and other costs have also increased.

Sharp said the facility now provides thousands of hours of staff training and uses medical sensors intended to alert staff quickly when an inmate stops breathing or overdoses.

The county is also paying for an $8.7 million project at the more than 40-year-old jail after reaching a point where, Sharp said, a major water-line failure could have jeopardized the facility’s ability to continue operating.

Sharp said the county expects to know within the first six months of 2027 whether the new payment structure is working. Future agreements could return to multiyear contracts, but the daily rate would likely rise as food, fuel, medical and other operating expenses increase.

The $213 rate, Sharp said, should not be expected to remain indefinitely.

Council members ultimately approved the one-year agreement without opposition.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media