During a Tuesday morning meeting, the Lewis County commissioners voted unanimously to approve an interlocal agreement between the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation for emergency use of the county jail.
“Kind of a unique request,” said Chief Chris Sweet from the sheriff’s office.
The deal would not be for regular jail use, but only for emergency situations when extra beds were needed by the tribe, Sweet said. The contract, he said, is the same as what’s used between the county and various city police departments; however, it changes the typical local bed rate to the Department of Corrections’ standard.
This also means the pay rate scale will increase every year. Under the approved agreement, the tribe will pay $92.40 for every calendar day an inmate is in the county’s custody.
The Chehalis Tribe does operate its own jail, which is a 34-bed facility. A copy of the tribe’s resolution approving the agreement states, “The tribe has need of jail placement approval.”
Per its website, the tribal jail is equipped to handle short-term sentencing of up to one year’s incarceration for misdemeanor offenses and houses around 18 inmates per day, on average. The tribe also contracts with “several other law enforcement agencies to house their inmates,” the website states.
The chief of Tribal Police declined to comment on the agreement or why it was necessary.
