Drafter
Clerk 10/26/09
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AN ORDINANCE relating to emergency inmate housing; authorizing the execution of an interlocal agreement between King County and Pierce county allowing King County to hold up to one hundred sixty-eight inmates at Pierce county in the event of an emergency; and declaring an emergency.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. After the flooding in January of this year, the United States Army Corps of Engineers ("the Corps") discovered two depressions on the right abutment adjacent to the Howard Hanson cam.
B. The Corps is currently assessing the damage to the right abutment and has determined that until the assessment can be completed, the Corps will reduce the amount of water that it will allow to be stored behind the dam in order to protect the integrity of the dam.
C. Reducing the amount of stored water means that during large rain events there is a higher risk of flooding in the Green River valley.
D. The Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center is at a high risk of flooding if the Howard Hanson dam is compromised.
E. The Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center contains a King County detention facility which holds up to one thousand three hundred felony and misdemeanor inmates.
F. Public safety is the most fundamental purpose of government, and citizens rightfully expect government to respond rapidly in the face of significant threats to life and property.
G. Acting proactively to respond and address the significant threats of emergencies, the county needs to ensure relocation capacity for inmates held at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center.
H. Pierce county and King County are authorized to operate correctional facilities.
I. King County wishes to contract with Pierce county for the incarceration of King County inmates in the event of an emergency.
J. Pierce county is amenable to accepting and keeping inmates received from King County in the event of an emergency...
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