CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to appropriations for the Seattle Municipal Court; amending a proviso imposed by Ordinance 126490, which adopted the 2022 Budget; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.
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WHEREAS, during the process to adopt the 2022 budget, the Council passed Council Budget Action (CBA) SMC-003-A-001; and
WHEREAS, CBA SMC-003-A-001 placed a proviso on $88,000 in the Seattle Municipal Court's budget intended to fund subsidies for users of electronic home monitoring (EHM); and
WHEREAS, the proviso restricted expenditure of $88,000 until the Court provided to the Public Safety and Human Services Committee or its successor baseline data from 2018-2021 to understand current usage of EHM for misdemeanor defendants; and
WHEREAS, the CBA also requested that the Court track, evaluate, and report on a quarterly basis demographic and usage information for those individuals placed on EHM; and
WHEREAS, in September 2021, the Community Task Force on Criminal Legal System Realignment issued a report that included recommendations regarding the use of EHM, stating that "[a]lthough EHM is generally thought of as an alternative to incarceration, electronic surveillance devices such as EHM have increasingly become an alternate form of incarceration, or 'digital imprisonment'" and that "[t]he barriers created by EHM include challenges to keeping and finding employment, securing housing, supporting family activities, and participating in community activities"...; and
WHEREAS, the Council's intent in having the baseline data and continuing tracking of data for comparison was to help determine whether EHM is being used to expand the net of surveillance or if its continued use increased disparities; and
WHEREAS, the Court recently indicated that neither it nor the EHM service provider tracked the baseline data requested, though the Court is tracking the requested information starting in...
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