An executive director has been hired to oversee operations at the region’s newest jail, known as SCORE.
The jail is a partnership between the cities of Auburn, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Renton, SeaTac and Tukwila. The facility is being constructed beneath the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s flight path in Des Moines. When completed in September 2011, the jail will house the partner cities’ misdemeanants. Earlier this month, the jail’s oversight boards selected Renton Police Department spokeswoman Penny Bartley as the facility’s first CEO.
Bartley has played a vital role in the jail’s creation. She has acted as the jail manager since coordination on the jail began in 2007.
The jail’s administrative board was looking for a handful of qualifications from applicants, said Jack Dovey, Federal Way City Council member and SCORE administrative board chair.
“The beauty of it was it was a nationwide search and we got people from all over the country,” he said. “We were able to pick from the best of the best.”
Bartley will handle the jail’s day-to-day operations. She will manage SCORE’s $91.4 million budget and oversee approximately 149 employees, she said.
“She is the one who runs the budget,” Dovey said. “She is going to be responsible for everything.”
Bartley will report directly to the administrative board and the operations board — a group of police chiefs representing the seven partner cities. She will coordinate with these boards to dictate how the regional jail is run. The set-up is similar to the regional Valley Communications emergency services center.
By the numbers
SCORE is seven months into construction. A groundbreaking ceremony took place this past August. Construction is approximately 60 days ahead of schedule, Dovey said.
Recruitment and testing for staff members is expected to begin this summer, Bartley said. Employees will not actually be hired until 2011, she said.
When completed, the 822-bed jail will meet the partner cities’ needs. It will house all the cities’ inmates, including those who are physically and mentally ill and those who are ill-tempered. Currently, Federal Way contracts with Auburn, Fife, Enumclaw, Buckley, King County and Yakima County for its jail services. Only King County accepts ill misdemeanants. Contracts with King and Yakima counties are due to expire in 2012 and later this year, respectively.
The jail’s beds will be split between the partner cities. Federal Way generates an average daily jail population of 65 to 68 individuals, police Cmdr. Connie Shupp said.
The project costs $94 million. Federal Way is contributing about $16 million for capital construction, financial services administrator Bryant Enge said. It will hand over another $2.7 million in annual costs, he said. This figure is based on a weighted average of debt service, operating costs and revenue credit generated by beds Federal Way does not use and is able to rent to other partner cities, Enge said. It is based on an average daily population of 67 Federal Way inmates and 50 percent occupancy, he said.
Background
Bartley has played a vital role in the jail’s creation. SCORE’s feasibility study was coordinated through Bartley and the City of Renton in October of 2007. Later, the partner cities jumped on board by signing an interlocal agreement. Bartley also assisted on the operating performa and design of the jail.
“I’ve been involved with this project since the beginning,” Bartley said. “It will be great to see it through to its completion.”
Heading up a jail will not be a new endeavor for Bartley. She has served as the Renton jail manager since 1994. She has 25 years of law enforcement experience — 21 of those years have been spent with Renton, she said. She holds a degree in law and justice from Central Washington University and is one of two certified jail managers in Washington state.
Prior to selecting Bartley for the position, the jail’s administrative board reviewed several applications for the position. Seattle search firm Waldron and Company, which received approximately $25,000 for its services, helped with the selection process. Waldron and Company met with each member of the SCORE operations and administrative boards, vice president for public sector Lane Youngblood said. It also met with employees of the court system and employees at existing jails, as well as SCORE’s IT personnel to develop a candidate profile, she said. The profile was used to screen applicants, Youngblood said.
Roughly 45 applicants applied for the position. Four were given final interviews, Dovey said. Of those, two were from out-of-state, another was from Washington and Bartley rounded out the top four.
“We had some pretty good candidates and when it all came down to the final decision, Penny actually had all the qualifications of what we wanted and she had the passion for it,” Dovey said.
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