Martin Hall board votes to keep facility

Martin Hall, the juvenile detention facility in Medical Lake to which Whitman County sends its underage offenders, will stay open for at least another year.

Commissioner Pat O’Neill reported Oct. 1 the board of directors of the nine-county consortium that oversees Martin Hall’s operations voted Sept. 27, to keep it open for one more year.

The directors considered closing the facility because the number of youths being housed there has not been enough to cover operating costs. O’Neill, who sits on the Martin Hall board as Whitman County’s representative, told the Gazette last week he anticipate...