Hoquiam Jail Sees "Daylight" Almost 10 Years After Closure

Hoquiam, WA - After almost 10 years, Hoquiam's jail will open once again; Hoquiam and Aberdeen officials are partnering to open a "day jail" hosted at the Hoquiam city jail facility, which was closed in 2002 due to budget cuts. 

In this partnership, Hoquiam’s city jail will house misdemeanor offenders of both communities under the supervision of the Hoquiam police services officer teamed with an Aberdeen corrections officer.  During daytime operations, offenders will be able to serve and complete their sentences in eight-hour "day jail" blocks of time. 

The day jail program will allow the City of Hoquiam to sentence misdemeanor offenders to serve their sentence over time in the day jail, as opposed to placing them in outside facilities at a cost of $45-$58 per day depending upon the facility.  While the City of Aberdeen does operate their own jail facility, they are also required to place offenders in outside facilities due to overcrowding and a lack of open jail space.  Aberdeen has a waiting list of defendants who could serve their time in the day jail once the program is in place.

The Aberdeen and Hoquiam City Councils will be considering an inter-local agreement to establish the day jail program at their respective council meetings next week.