MEDICAL LAKE-- Medical Lake city leaders are calling foul and calling out the Department of Corrections.
Leaders say there is a hidden agenda to close Pine Lodge, despite recent statements by the DOC.
Both members from inside and outside the prison are calling this the start of the mass Exodus even though DOC said the closure should be put on hold.
Doug Ross is Medical Lake’s city administrator and says the transfers just don’t add up to have a fully operational facility, close half of it and then make the justification that it’s not worth keeping the other half open.
Pine Lodge has a 450 person capacity, but that was cut in half last year because of budget cuts.
DOC planned on closing it until the county became interested in sharing the property for their overcrowded jail and said in the meantime, no unnecessary transfers would be made.
Eldon Vail is the Secretary of DOC. He told KREM 2 News over the phone that Pine Lodge is a great facility and the closing wasn’t about that, but when a couple of times there is a decision to look at closing, that is a difficult thing to live with.
But shortly after that phone call Vail called back to say he had looked at next week’s nine transfers and agreed some looked “suspicious.”
Three were being transferred for work release, but the rest had no reason to, so Vail is putting an immediate halt on their transfers.
But the city also says they have no legal right to close Pine Lodge.
Governor Gregoire ordered a study of the prisoners last year, which came back saying Pine Lodge should stay open.
According to a recent House bill, the governor or legislature legally can’t go against that report.
But lawmakers are finding a way around that. If the legislature wants to close Pine Lodge, they will just rewrite the bill so it works.
