Follow along on the Jail & Behavioral Care Center development
In November 2023, Whatcom County voters approved a 0.2% tax to fund the building of a jail and behavioral care center – a replacement of the County’s jail. Previously, voters rejected similar measured proposed in 2015 and 2017.
The development of the jail and behavioral care center is underway.
About
Our communities approved a tax to build a new way to care for our most vulnerable populations. We must continue to hold our systems accountable to provide the services we voted for.
Why this matters
Some key players
The Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task force (IPRTF)
The purpose of the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force is to continually review Whatcom County’s criminal justice and behavioral health programs and make specific recommendations to safely and effectively reduce incarceration of individuals struggling with mental illness and chemical dependency, and minimize jail utilization by pretrial defendants who can safely be released.
The Justice Project Oversight and Planning Committee (JPOP)
The Justice Project Oversight and Planning Committee provides guidance to the IPRTF/Law & Justice Council (LJC) to monitor the progress of the Implementation Plan. The committee will prepare an annual progress report on Plan goals to be included as part of the IPRTF/LJC annual report.
Finance and Facility Advisory Board (FFAB)
The purpose of the Finance and Facility Advisory Board (FFAB) is to provide financial oversight of the funds collected from the public safety sales and use tax and make recommendations on the finance and operations of the jail, behavioral health, and supportive housing facilities and services, aligned with a population health report on public health and safety.
Latest Updates
August 2025
STV presents a draft jail and behavioral care center capacity needs. The main criteria used to infer bed needs are: county population trend, admissions to the county jail, jail average daily population, jail average length of stay. The numbers below are draft projections and recommendations by STV:
The 2030 Plan (480 rated beds)
288 General Population
192 Special Housing and Orientation
The 2040 Plan (624 rated beds)
432 General Population
192 Special Housing and Orientation
The 2050 Plan (720 rated beds)
528 General Population
192 Special Housing and Orientation
July 2025
IPRTF approves a motion to recommend the adoption the Evaluation & Performance Measurement Plan to the Council. The Plan seeks to thoroughly evaluated the impact of the Justice Project.
June 2025
Village Reach submits the Evaluation & Performance Measurement Plan which seeks to evaluated:
“how much did we do?”
“how well did we do?”
“is anyone better off?”
JPOP facilitators present survey results from currently incarcerated people on desired features and services of the Jail & Behavioral Care Center.
WREC presents the Follow Along webpage - a platform for community feedback and involvement.
How to get involved
Attend a meeting ↓
Incarceration Prevention & Reduction Task Force (IPRTF) Meetings | Once a month on Mondays
Justice Project Oversight & Planning (JPOP) Meetings | 3rd Thursday each month 2-4pm
Whatcom Racial Equity Commission (WREC) Meetings | 2nd Wednesday each month 4-6pm
Stay informed ↓
Share your voice ↓
Submit a public comment to the WREC or inquire about speaking at a JPOP meeting.
Post on social media and tag us!
Instagram: @whatcomracialequity
LinkedIn: Whatcom Racial Equity Commission
Facebook: @whatcomracialequity
BlueSky: @whatcomrec.bsky.social