City of Yakima Looking to Expand

Yakima city needs to expand and city officials are looking for space for everything from the city police department to the city jail to court and city attorney's office.

Yakima City Manager Tony O'Rourke says they are considering all the options including expanding contracts with the county instead of building a new jail. Currently 79 inmates can be held in the city jail which is full everyday and overflowing. That is the reason why the city currently sends overflow inmates to the county.

We typically have 80 to 100 inmates we send to the county and we’d like to continue that relationship.

The city pays $49 a day for inmates housed in the county jail. O'Rourke says sending more inmates to the county could be an option instead of building a new jail, but he says the city still has major space needs for the growing city courts and city attorneys.