Pierce County lawmakers oppose any plan to close McNeil Island prison

A proposal to close McNeil Island Corrections Center, dispersing 1,250 inmates to other prisons and cutting more than 500 correctional staff jobs, has left Pierce County lawmakers scrambling to quash the plan.

The prison, on an island southwest of Tacoma, wasn't on the chopping block until late last Friday, when the Senate Ways and Means committee swapped it out for a Vancouver, Wash.-area prison that had been eyed for closure. When the Senate budget passed Saturday, the McNeil Island prison was facing closure and Larch Corrections Center was spared.

Now, Rep. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma, and other members of Pierce County's House delegation are fighting the proposed closure. They are lobbying Gov. Chris Gregoire and posting their opposition on Facebook and other social-networking sites. "This was a last-minute deal," said an angry Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood. "I'm a guy who wants to save money, but I don't believe any money is going to be saved" by closing McNeil Island.

If the Senate cuts are approved by the House — whose budget would reduce but not eliminate McNeil Island prison — and agreed to by Gregoire, budget analysts say the state would save $58.3 million by the end of 2011 by the closure and from other proposed reductions: Closing a wing at Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women, near Spokane; closing Maple Lane School, a Centralia juvenile lockup for sex offenders, mentally ill, drug addicted and the developmentally disabled; and closing a portion of Larch Corrections Center near Vancouver.

The proposed cuts are part of recent budget-driven downsizing by the state Department of Corrections (DOC), which last month closed a Yakima prison. The elderly and infirm inmates who had been housed at Ahtanum View Corrections Center have been shuffled into other prisons across the state.

The House has proposed removing maximum- and medium-security inmates from McNeil Island, which would be a cost savings in staffing, security and inmate population. Gregoire has proposed the closure of Larch and Pine Lodge, as well as the closure of two older units at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. In her budget, McNeil Island would be downsized to a minimum-security facility.

Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, who chairs the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee, has long pushed for the closure of McNeil Island prison. He said it is the most expensive correctional facility in the state and is in desperate need of repairs, which would cost around $80 million.

Under the Senate plan, McNeil Island Corrections Center would close in June 2011. The state's Special Commitment Center, which houses sexually violent predators and is run by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), will remain on the island.

State DOC Secretary Eldon Vail said that any prison closure is shortsighted because it doesn't factor in a need for prison bed space if crime rates increase.

The Senate, in its not-yet released capital budget, will propose building a new prison along the Interstate 5 corridor by 2016 to compensate for forecast inmate-population growth, budget analysts said. Details are still being formulated.

Spokesmen for Gregoire's office and the DOC said they hadn't heard of discussions to build a new prison.

Shuttering the island prison would dump additional costs on to DSHS, opponents say. The DOC currently runs the ferry, firefighting, groundskeeping and other services on the island.

If the prison closes, DSHS would have to pick up the tab for those services because there is no proposal to close the sex-offender-treatment facility. The additional spending would come at a time when DSHS is trying to significantly reduce its budget as well.

DSHS officials declined to discuss the potential prison closure and how it would affect the state agency.

"There's clearly a lot of anxiety over closing McNeil," said Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, who backed the plan to save Larch from closure. "If it's purely about how do we save the state the most money then clearly the closure of McNeil makes the most sense."

Hargrove said it would still be cheaper to have DSHS absorb those costs than to keep the prison open. Carrell, the Lakewood state representative, doesn't buy the argument.

He thinks state employees will have to be hired to run the services, many of which he said are handled now by minimum-security inmates who earn 42 cents per hour.

An Olympia consulting group hired last year to study potential savings associated with corrections-facility closures told lawmakers that closing the McNeil Island prison, which costs the state $49 million per year to operate, wouldn't save money — because of the financial impact on DSHS.

But, according to a recent report by Senate staff, the state would save an additional $25 million by closing McNeil Island over Larch. Senate budget experts say that DSHS will have to pay about $2.6 million annually to handle the increased services to the island, but according to DSHS the change will cost the agency $5 million per year.

While DOC says the closure could come at the cost of nearly 500 jobs, details of those who would be out of work have not yet been released.

Chad Lewis, a spokesman for the DOC, said that agency budget experts are working through the different scenarios pitched by the House and Senate.

He said if McNeil is closed there may not be space for all inmates in state prisons, forcing offenders to be shipped to privately run prisons out of state.

McNeil Island had been home to a prison since 1875, when it was a federal penitentiary. The state started leasing the facility in 1981, and in 1984 the island was officially deeded to the state, according to DOC.

Don Pierce, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs, met with Gregoire this week to share his concerns about the Senate budget. Pierce said the closure would hamstring the state if there is a spike in prison admissions.

Viet Shelton, a spokesman for Gregoire, said the governor does not support the closure of the McNeil Island prison. But, Shelton adds, she plans to work with both the House and Senate to hammer out a decision they can all agree upon.

Seattle Times staff reporter

Andrew Garber contributed

to this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com