A RESOLUTION recognizing the obstacles faced by previously incarcerated individuals that often result in recidivism, and the potential to reduce recidivism rates, criminal justice costs, and incarceration’s negative impacts on individuals, the community, and the City of Seattle; requesting the Mayor to establish a Prisoner and Community Corrections Re-entry Work Group composed of residents, City departments, the Seattle Municipal Court, and the Legislative Department to coordinate and strengthen the City’s efforts to assist prisoner community re-entry.
Agenda item 12 Resolution 31637. Recognizing the obstacles faced by previously incarcerated individuals that often result in recidivism and the potential to reduce recidivism rates, criminal justice costs and incarcerations. Negative impacts on individuals, the community and the city of Seattle. Requesting the Mayor to establish a prisoner and Community Corrections Reentry Work Group composed of residents, city departments, the Seattle Municipal Court and the Legislative Department to coordinate and strengthen the city's efforts to assist prisoner community reentry. The committee recommends that the Council, the resolution, be adopted. Thank you, Councilmember Harrell. Thank you very much. So this resolution calls on city departments to convene a prisoner and community corrections reentry work group to coordinate and strengthen the city's efforts to assist formerly incarcerated people who reenter our communities. And this workgroup will consist of residents and city departments and municipal court representative and our legislative department and great leaders like Murph . Thank you for being here, Mayor, for this piece of legislation. Basically, this working group will assess collection of fees and fines for criminal violations and infractions and how and how they impact successful reentry into our communities. The work we'll be doing will identify areas where the city's efforts could be strengthened by more effective coordination with other criminal justice agencies and develop a set of additional policies and ordinances and strategies to help us implement and facilitate prisoner reentry. This resolution is asking city departments to explore the creation of a Certificate of Restoration of opportunity, otherwise known as a crop. And many of you are aware of the work dealing with a crop in the state legislature. And so we will explore that. If the state legislature does not pass one in the upcoming legislative session, it is part of our agenda. We are hopeful, but we will be prepared of things in a short session. Do not go the way we want them to. This workgroup will report back to the Council by the end of February 2016 with an initial report, and the final report is due September 1st, 2016. Now, why are we doing this? What is this resolution all about? Well, we know in 2015, approximately 2.2 million people were incarcerated nationally, a 500% increase in the last 30 years. We speak at our committee and in our communities about the massive incarceration of many communities locally. In 2015, 16,675 adults were incarcerated in Washington State prisons, and a further average of 12,618 people per day were placed in local jails, with 2800 being jailed right here in King County. So in 2014, about 20% of the almost 8000 individuals released from Department of Corrections were released right here in our county. People of color are disproportionately represented among those released in King County. A study demonstrated while African-Americans were only 6% of the King County's population, 41% of people released from the Department of Corrections were African-American. And while Latinos were only 6% of King County's population, 18% of those people released from DC were Latinos. This work is needed. These policies are needed. This resolution heads us in the right direction as just this work we will be doing. And I personally believe that how cities and counties deal with the reentry of those who have been in custody will determine largely the fate and success of these cities. And I think this is important policy work that we must do. The committee recommends passage of this legislation. Thank you. Questions or comments? All in favor of adopting Resolution 31637 vote. I opposed vote no. The resolution is unanimously adopted and the chair will sign it. Please read item 13. Agenda item 13. Resolution 31632. Related to the city's emergency management program and many the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, Base Plan, Emergency Operations Plan and All Hazards Mitigation Plan as required by Seattle Municipal Code Section 10.0 2.050 hour S.W. 38.5 2.077 and WAC 118-30060.