WHATCOM COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Whatcom County has approved framework for its new jail as the project heads to the design phase.

The Whatcom County Council voted 5-2 Tuesday night, Aug. 11 to accept programming for the new jail and request the executive’s office to move forward with design and construction.

The approved programming places the jail’s size at about 150,000 square feet with between 450 and 460 beds. About a quarter of those beds would be used for behavioral health care.

The current jail is roughly 90,000 square feet and contains up to 427 beds.

The council also requested the county executive’s office to prioritize the inclusion of the Rapid Resource Center, a second court room and family contact visitation space without sacrificing the jail’s housing capacity. They also discussed the possibility of asking for state funding for the Rapid Resource Center in the next legislative session.

Mark Stremler and Jessica Rienstra were the only two council members opposed the programming.

Stremler said he had reservations about the project’s behavioral care services, while Rienstra expressed concern that the plan prioritized the jail’s capacity over its other resources.

“If everything we’re doing is not going to sacrifice housing capacity, then the entire building will be housing capacity,” Rienstra said at the meeting. “And I thought maybe the spirit of this motion was to make sure that while we continue to move forward for capacity that fits the needs of our community, we’re also going to be prioritizing these other pieces of it as well.”

The programming can still be adjusted ahead of construction and is not seen as a final design document, but will create the framework for the project.

Construction of the new jail is still slated to begin in 2027 with no specific date announced.

Meanwhile, similar programming for the behavioral care center will be released around October.