King County Executive Dow Constantine proposed a new budget this week that includes a shift of $4.6 million in funding out of the Sheriff’s Office into new investments of programs designed to reinvent the criminal legal system, prioritize anti-racism and provide alternatives to policing. Constantine went on to say the proposed budget is an “important down payment on building a strong, equitable, and racially just county that lives up to the principles of its namesake (Martin Luther King Jr.).”
Of the 4.6 million, $2.8 million would be spent to help vacate convictions of marijuana offenses that are no longer illegal, $1.35 million would be shifted to the programs such as youth marijuana prevention and employment programs, and $450,000 would be used to create a community panel that would determine how to spend marijuana taxes in future years.
King County Sheriff Mitzi G. Johanknecht said Constantine didn’t speak to her about the idea of the $4.6 million cut to her department’s budget, and said she is trying to determine if the reduction would force cuts to service in unincorporated King County, as the proposed cut equates to about 30 patrol deputies, or a 22% reduction in 911 service to unincorporated areas of King County
Key provisions of Constantine’s 2021-22 budget proposal:
- Investing $6.2 million in “Restorative Community Pathways,” which would refer up to 800 young people by 2022-2023 to receive comprehensive, community-based services in lieu of filing criminal charges.
- Investing $750,000 to co-create and implement alternative to policing in urban unincorporated areas such as White Center, Skyway and East Renton. This could involve hiring behavioral health professionals to partner with deputies and divert cases from criminal courts and jails.
- Divesting $1.9 million in detention by continuing limits on jail population. Since the start of the pandemic, King County has reduced the jail population to 1,300, down from approximately 1,900 pre-COVID, and further reductions are planned.
- Investing $600,000 to respond to regional gun violence.
- Investing $2.7 million in a community justice model to divert eligible first-time offenders in lowest level cases from the judicial system, offering services to break the cycle of chronic offenses.
- Reimagining fare enforcement on Metro buses, which Constantine says has had a disproportionate negative impact on riders of color.
- Investing in community engagement to support co-creation and the long-term success of community-based organizations. This includes creating a participatory budgeting effort to determine how to invest $10 million in new capital projects in the urban unincorporated areas of Skyway, White Center, Fairwood, East Federal Way, and East Renton.
Constantine said he will transmit the budget proposal to the King County Council with a formal speech on Sept. 22.
