The Whatcom County Council received a detailed presentation last week on the proposed design features for the new county jail, a central piece of the county's broader Justice Project initiative. The presentation, which took place on Tuesday, June 23rd, marked a significant milestone as the design-build team laid out what the facility would actually contain, room by room.
The new jail is part of the Whatcom County Justice Project, a voter-approved effort to overhaul criminal justice and behavioral health infrastructure in the county. The project includes not only the new jail but also a behavioral health facility and expanded services for substance use disorder treatment and supportive housing. The existing jail in downtown Bellingham has been considered inadequate for years, with aging infrastructure, space limitations, and programming deficiencies that have hampered both safety and rehabilitation efforts.
The design presentation, called "programming" in the construction industry, details the individual spaces and functions of the facility rather than the physical architecture. It was developed over several months by the design-build team in consultation with staff from the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, facilities professionals, and health experts who will eventually operate the building.
One notable development revealed at the meeting: the facility has been scaled back significantly from its original concept. The proposed jail was reduced from a planned 227,000 square feet to approximately 150,000 square feet. The reduction drew a mixed reaction from council members, with the Cascadia Daily News reporting that some were "disappointed" with certain missing elements. Specifics about which features were cut were not detailed in the county's public summary, but the scope reduction likely affects program and housing unit capacity.
Despite some concerns, the Finance and Facilities Advisory Board, known as FFAB, recommended that the council approve the programming document as presented, while noting that future "fine-tuning" would still be possible. The board's endorsement gives the project a path forward, though the full County Council still needs to formally vote on accepting the programming.
Residents interested in reviewing the presentation can access it directly through the county's public records system. The presentation to the council is viewable at the Whatcom County public meeting archive. The county has also maintained a public-facing project page throughout the Justice Project process where meeting notes, timelines, and documents have been shared.
The Justice Project has been years in the making. Voters approved funding for the initiative in a November 2020 ballot measure, and the project has moved through planning, site selection, and now design programming. The new facility is expected to be built in Bellingham, though the precise location and final construction timeline have not been publicly announced as part of this particular update.
For Whatcom County residents, the jail project touches on several ongoing community conversations: how the county handles individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders in the criminal justice system, what alternatives to incarceration look like at scale, and whether the facility will be built to accommodate future population needs. The programming phase is meant to answer the first and most concrete of those questions: what spaces will exist inside the building.
The next steps will depend on the council's formal response to the FFAB recommendation. Watch the Whatcom County Council meeting schedule for an upcoming agenda item where a vote on the programming document is likely to appear. Community members who wish to comment can do so during public testimony periods at council meetings or through written comments submitted to the county.
