Kennewick schools back city demand to block sex offender home
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- School board and city jointly oppose placement of sex offender home near schools.
- Resolution urges governor, Legislature and DSHS to revise placement policies.
- Residents and officials cite safety concerns despite limited legal options to block it.
The Kennewick School Board on Wednesday formally signed off on a joint resolution with the city opposing the placement of a sex offender house at the corner of 8th Avenue and Edison Street.
Five public schools are within a two-mile radius of the proposed “less restrictive alternative” project, which would house sexually violent predators after their prison terms are served.
Local leaders say the project is a major safety concern with the number of students and families in the neighborhood who commute to and from school.
Kennewick City Council first adopted the resolution at its meeting last week.
The joint resolution calls on Gov. Bob Ferguson, the Washington Legislature and the state Department of Social and Health Services to reconsider the policies allowing the housing placement.
It also demands future placement decisions be governed by a process “grounded in local control, full transparency, early notification, shared accountability, and mandatory consultation with, and consent from, affected school districts and local governments.”
The school board voted unanimously, 5-0, to sign on to the resolution at its meeting. There was some discussion about possibly making it stronger, but board members ultimately chose to accept the city’s language and were in agreement on their disapproval.
“I think I’ve said plenty on this LRA home. I think it’s disgusting, and it needs to go away,” said board President Gabe Galbraith, who donated to a GoFundMe campaign started by a Tri-Cities group that’s raised over $10,500 to hire an attorney to fight the project.
The facility would be a first for Benton and Franklin counties. There are about 25 of the homes in the state, mostly in Western Washington.
But Kennewick officials say there is no way to legally prohibit them from operating in the city as community members have rallied at public meetings, town halls and outside the house to stop it from opening.
The program is a court-ordered treatment in a setting that’s less restrictive than McNeil Island’s total confinement facility.
The offenders have finished prison terms, then spent time at the special commitment center — on an island in South Puget Sound, near Steilacoom — receiving treatment for mental health issues that make them more likely to offend again.
When they are deemed less likely to reoffend, they are released to the homes, where residents must wear GPS tracking devices and have a chaperone if they leave the home.
Kennewick Mayor Jason McShane told the school board that this is a dangerous state practice that has the potential to harm not only survivors of sexual assault and violence, but their families as well.
About 56 sex offenders already live in the city of Kennewick, according to Benton County’s registry. About 11 of those are Level 3, and 10 are listed as “transient.”
