Martin Hall revenue said on stable ground

Although the Martin Hall Juvenile Detention Center had a rough financial start at the beginning of this year, it is now on stable ground again.

Commissioner Art Swannack, who represents Whitman County on the Martin Hall board, told commissioners Monday that because the juvenile center’s population has increased and remained steady, the center is secure. He also said the board will begin working on next year’s budget soon.

The center needs between 25 to 26 juveniles per day to make ends meet. Swannack said that in March, the population averaged 28, with April at 29 and May at 26.

He also said that Whitman County has been contributing more than usual to the juvenile population with about double the usual number of juveniles. He said the county usually averages 2.5 beds per day for the month, but in the last couple of months the county has used an average of five bed days per month.

The county’s cost in May for the Medical Lake center was $12,000, Swannack said. June’s bill is expected to be more.

In February, the hall housed an average of 13 juvenile offenders.

In April the commissioners signed an amended agreement that helped sustain the facility for one more year and requires each county to make payments to the hall whether the county has juveniles housed there or not.

The new agreement means Whitman County must pay between $40,000 to $45,000 this year.

To keep the center financially stable, at least 29 juveniles must be in the facility per day, at a cost of $155 per juvenile inmate per day. Whitman County has had an average one or two juvenile offenders at the center per day for almost a year, Swannack said in April.

Swannack has said that the juvenile center is losing $25,000 a month for every four juvenile inmates under the minimum number of 28 inmates it takes to keep the center financially stable.

Since 1996, each county paid for a set number of bed-days per year. Whitman County averaged 912.5 beds per year, paying $141,437. Participating counties pay $155 per bed per day.

Martin Hall’s board late in 2012 adopted a “pay-as-you-go” policy, not committing to a strict payment for the hall’s use, but only paying for the number of beds each county actually uses.

Other member counties include Adams, Asotin, Douglas, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille and Stevens.