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June 28, 2001
McNeil Island to get halfway house
OLYMPIA (AP) -- Gov. Gary Locke has signed a bill that allows the state to build a 24-bed halfway house for sex predators on McNeil Island.
The new facility is expected to open in October. The bill signed Tuesday was a compromise between Locke's original proposal for a 36-bed halfway house and Pierce County's demand for a much smaller structure.
The halfway house -- which will keep residents under 24-hour supervision -- will house sex offenders from the Special Commitment Center who are deemed ready for a less restrictive alternative.
A federal judge had ordered the state to find a less restrictive setting for at least some of the offenders confined under the state's civil commitment law by July, or face fines of as much as $3 million.