Lynnwood may hire nurses for city jail

LYNNWOOD — The Lynnwood Police Department is asking the city council to approve a plan to hire nurses in the city jail.

The request comes not long after Sheriff Ty Trenary asked the Snohomish County Council for additional medical staffing in the county jail.

Lynnwood police have made budget requests for nursing staff for at least the past four years, said Cmdr. Jim Nelson, who oversees the city jail. For now, there is no medical staffing at the Lynnwood jail, which houses an average of 40 inmates at a time.

Nelson and Police Chief Steve Jensen wrote a memo on jail medical staffing for Monday’s city council packet.

“This is a piece of modern-day corrections in almost any sized facility,” Nelson said.

The proposal suggests adding registered nurse staffing for 36 hours a week and for an advanced registered nurse practitioner who would work six hours a week. The nurses likely would be hired through a contract agency, not as city employees.

The nurses would help screen inmates for medical concerns, respond to requests for medical attention and manage medication distribution, Nelson said. Under the current proposal, the nurses’ time would cost about $80,000 for the second half of 2014.

People who are sentenced to more than a year behind bars after a criminal conviction are sent to state prisons. In Snohomish County, people who are serving less than a year for felonies or who are awaiting court hearings in those cases are kept at the county jail. Inmates with misdemeanor cases can be kept at the county jail, or at city jails in Lynnwood and Marysville.

The county jail drew public scrutiny after a series of inmates deaths in recent years. Trenary has been working to improve conditions, particularly the recommendations made in two federal reviews. Those efforts have included limiting bookings for nonviolent misdemeanor offenders. Both the county and city jails have struggled to house inmates with serious medical issues or mental health problems.

Since the county jail began restricting bookings, both Lynnwood and Marysville signed contracts with another facility in south King County. The Lynnwood Jail does not have room to consider creating a medical ward, Nelson said.

At this point, the Marysville Detention Center does not have plans to add medical staffing, police Cmdr. Wendy Wade said.

For the county, at least two of the inmate deaths have led to millions of dollars in legal claims, alleging that inmates were denied basic medical care. One of those inmates, 22-year-old Michael Saffioti, had been transferred to the county jail after turning himself in to the Lynnwood Jail in a misdemeanor marijuana possession case.

Inmates don’t arrive at jails with medical concerns typical of the general population. Many are suffering from withdrawal symptoms related to drug and alcohol abuse — a condition that can be fatal under some circumstances.

Many medical concerns require certain kinds of housing and supervison in a corrections environment, Nelson said.

“Really what we want to do is make sure we’re providing the proper level of care and meeting best practices in the city of Lynnwood in our jail,” he said.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Guilty: Jury convicts Bothell man in long-unsolved 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.