What’s next for new Whatcom County Jail? Council details path to facility’s completion
Progress on a new Whatcom County Jail is underway, with a recent presentation to the county council outlining an expected timeline for planning and implementation over the next few years.
Replacement of the county’s jail, which has been in operation at its current location in downtown Bellingham since 1984, has been a topic of discussion for years. Voters rejected measures to increase taxes to fund the building of a new jail in 2015 and 2017, but approved a 0.2% tax in November 2023.
It was estimated that the tax will collect some $13 million to $14 million annually, allowing the county to finance the jail with bonds.
The most recent cost estimate for the new jail is about $174 million, according to the council. However, a more accurate budget estimate is expected in May after the completion of jail capacity, behavioral health care and Medicaid feasibility studies. The studies are slated to begin in March.
Planners said they hope to have “cost certainty” by the end of 2026.
While the first half of 2025 will be focused on recruiting designers, communications experts and contractors for the jail project, the county expects to move into actual designing and community engagement in the latter half of the year. They will also be speaking with stakeholders and collecting data.
“Going forward, we want to continually show to the public that the commitments we made, we’re doing our best effort,” said Whatcom County Executive’s Office spokesperson Jed Holmes. “Given the circumstances, given the fact that things change and that there’s uncertainty everywhere in the world, we’re making a good effort to try to follow through on that.”
Whatcom County Sheriff Donnell “Tank” Tanksley recently proposed a 650-bed capacity for the new jail, which includes a 20% buffer. The base capacity would be 540 beds, more than twice that of the existing jail.
The county council voted in 2023 to build the new jail on LaBounty Drive in Ferndale. It was one of three locations under consideration, and was determined by council members to be the most cost-effective.
Holmes said that if all goes to plan, the new jail will be in operation by the summer of 2028.
What will be different about the new jail?
A major focus of the new jail will be the incorporation of behavioral health services. While it’s still undecided if the intended behavioral health center will be in a separate building from the jail, improving access to mental health and substance abuse services has been a priority in all stages of planning.
Data show that 44% of people in local jails experience mental health issues, which are often exacerbated by incarceration. And while the existing jail does provide services, they are not as widespread or accessible as experts say they should be.
Members of the county’s Justice Project Oversight and Planning Committee, which is part of the larger Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force, toured jails with more robust behavioral health programs to assist in guiding the direction of Whatcom County’s new jail.
Chief of Corrections Caleb Erickson said their visit to a jail in Columbus, Ohio was particularly impactful. The jail there not only had specialists readily available, but took measures like incorporating nature murals and organizing cells in ways meant to improve mental well being.
Erickson told The Herald that when people are put in jail, the suspension of certain rights is their punishment.
“They’re not to be put into a place where we then punish them further,” Erickson said.
Starck Follis, director of the Whatcom County Public Defender’s Office, brings a different perspective to the Justice Project Oversight and Planning Committee.
He said he views his role on the committee as making sure the jail is built in a humane way, has adequate behavioral health and medical facilities, and allows better attorney access to clients in the jail.
“I think everybody kind of recognizes that we’ve reached a point in time where what we’re doing or what we’ve done for the past 30 or 40 years really hasn’t worked very well,” Follis said.
This story was originally published March 1, 2025 at 5:00 AM.