An NPR member station
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Spokane Criminal Justice Town Halls Scheduled This Week

Doug Nadvornick/SPR

Spokane law and justice officials have begun another phase in their quest to decide whether the city and county should build a new jail.

On Monday and Tuesday they're holding two town hall meetings to give people a chance to offer opinions about the criminal justice system.

The first is at 5:30 today [Monday] at Spokane Valley City Hall. The second is tomorrow [Tuesday] at 5:30 at the Northeast Community Center.

Also this week, representatives of the Vera Institute of Justice are in town to do some fact-finding. Vera has been working with the county to survey the county’s criminal justice assets and needs.

Maggie Yates, the administrator of the Spokane Regional Law and Justice Department, says it’s the first of three visits Vera plans to make to Spokane this year.

"They’re going to be, during this first site visit, meeting with detention services staff, both at Geiger and the downtown facilities, so that they can get a better sense of what the operations currently look like, what the challenges are that our line staff are experiencing and also what their suggested solutions are for improving the way that we are operating our jail and providing services to the individuals who are incarcerated," Yates said.