Westside flooding brings 32 Kent inmates to Yakima County jail

Flooding in Western Washington has increased Yakima County’s jail population.

The county jail has received 32 inmates from Kent's city jail due to flood warnings. Parts of Kent, Renton and Tukwila were under evacuation orders this week due to levee breaches, Yakima County corrections Chief Bill Splawn said.

“Currently, our population is low, so this does not create any housing issues here,” Splawn said.

As of Wednesday morning, the jail population was 532, including the Kent inmates, Splawn said. The Yakima County jail has a capacity of more than 900 beds.

Kent has a contract with Yakima County, and eight inmates from there were staying at the jail. Kent pays Yakima County $125 a day for general population inmates.

"We're happy to help them in their time of need," Splawn said. 

This story has been updated to reflect the number of inmates in the jail and how much Kent pays to house inmates in Yakima County, and that the inmates came from the Kent city jail.