Puyallup now offering people convicted of crimes the chance to do their time at home
Some misdemeanor offenders in Puyallup now have the option to serve time from home.
For the first time in more than 20 years, the Puyallup Police Department is offering a house-arrest program rather than serving time at the jail for misdemeanor, non-violent crimes.
The program started this month after more than a year of work, deputy chief Dave McDonald said.
“It conveniently fits nicely into the whole COVID-19 time we’re in. I think that’s put it on the front burner of getting this up and running,” McDonald said.
Practicing social distancing has cut the number of available beds at the municipal jail. In normal circumstances, there are 52 beds, but now there is space for one person per cell, leaving room for up to 22 offenders, McDonald said.
As of Sept. 2, the jail was holding 20 people.
Due to a lack of correctional officers to oversee participants, the house-arrest program stopped over two decades ago. Now that the city has approved four more jailers, the program can restart, McDonald said.
A municipal judge decides whether an applicant is approved for the program. A correctional officer theninspects the home to determine whether it’s suitable for house arrest before installing equipment like an ankle bracelet or a skin sensor, which monitors alcohol consumption, on an offender.
The equipment is rented from a statewide monitoring program, which notifies the department if an offender leaves the house without permission or cuts off the device, McDonald said.
The program is limited to 12 participants. The first person was placed on the program recently, Puyallup Municipal Court Judge Andrea Beall said.
“The person has a medical condition that makes being incarcerated at this time more perilous,” Beall said.
If approved for the program, offenders pay up to $20 a day to rent the monitoring equipment. Beall said the price can be reduced for low-income offenders.
The judge said she has been able to order home-monitoring devices prior to this program, but it was offered through a private agency. Now that Puyallup police offer their own, she said, it will be easier to track violations.
“It’s a program for people to be held accountable, but still maintain a household and their job and continues that stability,” she said.
Because the cost falls on the offenders’ shoulders, McDonald said, the program would save the city about $100 a day per person of housing, feeding and providing medical care in the jail.
There are eligibility restrictions.
Participants must have a home, no record of Class A felonies like robbery, murder or felony assaults, no outstanding warrants with other agencies, no conviction of escape in the past three years, no convictions of stalking or extensive domestic violence offenses. Sex offenders do not qualify.
