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King County Jail

500 5th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
ph. (206) 296-1234

Interview with Jenna, Cris, Mel, Ashley, Aaron, Walter, Shawn, Mimi, Saul, Heather, Ricky, Sterling, Doug, George and Bonnie

JM: How long was your sentencing for?
Jenna: 30 Days in custody and 4 months of electronic home monitoring.
Cris: na
Mel: 14 days time served, 2 years probation
Ashley: 1 day
Aaron: 20 months and 1 year of community custody. Which. Ended up being one year and 4 months....You tell me why that is. It should have been lless than. A year with good time. The. System is. Ass backwards.
Walter: I was sentenced to 30 days. But I also served the 1 in king county and another 10 or so in Kittitas. Those were for warrants and not complying properly with treatment.
Shawn: 1 year in the county Jail
Mimi: I was sentenced to 2 weeks in King County jail.
Saul: 10 years with a SOSA
Heather: Had I been convicted of Robbery 2 my sentencing range was only 0-60 days. Because i plead down to theft 2 upon sentencing i was given credit for time served and released.
Ricky: About 2 hours from time taken from cell to end of sentencing.
Sterling: One year with all of it suspended. I violated probation twice for not having the money for DV treatment. The first time they have me two days because I was starting a new job. The second time they gave me 20 when I was unemployed. When I went to jail for two days the Judge said I was a threat to the victim and the community. I wanted to slap that bitch. I had no criminal history. I had two assault 4s for a spanking that left a paper clip and for snatching a phone from someone who was going to call the police on me for something I didnt do. That what I thought but to be real she wanted to call because I pushed the chair. At the time I was thinking it was over the ottoman.
Doug: My sentencing was for 30 days and i got timed served.
George: 90 days, of which i served 60 days on that charge.

JM: Did you spend time in a holding cell after your sentencing? If so, what was that like? If you didn't where did they they take you instead?
Jenna: Yes. Well it was very uncomfortable sitting on that hard concrete bench, and then you have to use the bathroom in front of everyone. This particular time I was in there with some young girls who talked very loud, so you have to deal with being this little room with ten people and it's loud. They tried intimidating one young girl, but they found out she was not going for it. The cell was very dirty, writing on the wall, smelt of urine, and on the wall were (what I think were) boogers. I was in there until everyone finished there sentencing, some people cried and some came in happy.
Cris: I spent time in a holding cell that smelled like urine and shit. And when I told the staff. Their comment was " Oh well deal with it."
Mel: No
Bonnie: Oddly enough, yes, I did. For some reason, I was held in a cell after presumed innocent for about 4 more hours. That is on top of the almost two days I spent previous to that. The holding cells are gratuitous, small, too hot or too cold, dirty, smelly, and loud. The staff servicing the holding cell's are completely out of touch from understanding what psychological trauma one may be experiencing while being held at such an institution. Being a citizen of The United States Of America, our legal right is that of an innocent person until proven guilty, meaning the treatment of any such person should be equivelant to that of a staff member, and also upheld during the time period in which their investigation is pending.
Ashley: YES, that was the worst part. They are COLD. IT's all concrete and metal, and there are lots of people who are in a bad mood all together. You don't know how long it will take. People get called in and out and in an out as they do the bookings and it's hard to understand what the officals are saying over the intercome/ door lock buzzing. You just need to stay patient and calm and KNOW it will be hours.
Aaron: Yes I did. It wasn't insanely terrible but it wass the realization that you know exactly how long your going to be in here for so now its. Time to face facts. Nothing you can. Do or. Say will change this determination so just. Man up.
Walter: I spent about 6 hours in holding each time I was taken in. The rooms are small and over crowded. They provides a sack lunch. It felt very uneasy in king county because I was in holding with a murder suspect and some other violent people. I tried to keep to myself until I was booked into a normal cell.
Shawn: Yes, they put everyone in a holding cell to await going back upstairs to the cell. It was very crowded and loud and filty and we stayed there for a very long time
Mimi: Yes, they always take you to a holding cell first. You spend a few hours there before they take you upstairs to the regular cell. It is dirty, there was blood on the wall and by the payphone and it looks like it hasn't ever been cleaned.
Saul: Sentencing occurred two weeks into my stay in Jail. I was taken from my cell to a holding cell with 30 other inmates. It was filthy and no information was shared about how long it was going to be waiting. My hearing had been delayed so i was the very last person to be escorted to the court room.
Heather: Yes, I spent quite a bit of time in a holding cell. I was brought to one cell where I dressed back into my jail attire and then to another very small cell where I sat waiting for over two hours for other people to finish court so that they could escort us all back across the bridge at the same time.
Ricky: Very briefly was I held in the holding cell after sentencing. I think because of the media coverage of the case. I was taken back to my regular cell within 15 minutes after sentencing.
Sterling: Nah after my sentencing I went home. Yeah there was a holding cell but when you are getting you dont care about that stuff. The funny part is all the guys who get their jewelery jacked by the police. They hand them their stuff and its always chains and watches that come up missing.
Doug: I didnt spend time in a holding cell after my sentencing cause I was not incarcerated, I was out on the streets and came into court for sentencing. so I got to leave.
George: I was placed in a holding cell with about 35 inmates. there was a toilet, that was clearly visable to all the inmated. i ended up having to use the bathroom in front of 35 men looking at me, it was not fun.

Life On The Inside
The best way for any inmate to get through their sentence will all come down to a question of attitude. A former inmate of the King County Jail summed it up best by saying, "Don't take anything personally. It's not about YOU. Remember, you're there for a reason too, so you DO have something in common will the other people. Just be human and patient." That advice probably can apply to any situation in life.

The King County Jail in Seattle was open in 1986 and employs over 350 staff members to manage and maintain the facility. Inmates are housed on multi-floor cell blocks. The best cellblock to be on is the trustee ward. As far as separation of inmates, it appears that those who are sick or dealing with mental problems are isolated from the rest of the population. For the rest, you could be sharing a cell with a jay-walker or a felon convicted of assault.

There should be no excuse for an inmate being bored at King County Jail based on the number of available programs. Among the programs offered are vocational training, high school equivalency and even creative writing classes. There are also programs offers to help inmates develop better parenting and relationship skills. To "survive" the meal service, inmates are allowed to purchase items from the commissary.

Good Behavior Policy
The good behavior policy for inmates in the state of Washington allows for a one third reduction off their sentence provided they stay out of trouble. Even the simplest thing like getting caught with too many unapproved photographs can threaten good behavior time.

Visitor and Telephone Policy
A big issue concerning nearly every jail with regard to inmate visitation is the dress code of the visitors. The goal is not to wear anything that might "excite" an inmate. This is an obvious restriction to follow. Visitors will also need to present a valid photo ID.

It's up to the inmate to inform their visitor when they'll be able to come by the facility. Whenever that appointment is, make sure to give yourself time to check in properly.

Inmates are given access to phones in their cellblock but they are guaranteed to be working or available every day. The service is set up by PCS Telecom where an inmate needs to set up a pre-paid account to place a call.


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