County commissioners freeze issuance of new involuntary detention center permits 

A one-year stop was ordered on permitting for new public and private involuntary detention centers and correctional facilities in Thurston County.

The move by the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners on June 16 follows similar actions by King and Pierce counties. The moves are aimed at blocking expansion of federal immigration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities within the respective jurisdictions.

The move also affords the county’s volunteer citizen advisory group, planning commission and staff time to review and develop local code amendments for the operation of detention facilities. 

“This moratorium is a practical and necessary step that gives us time to carefully examine Thurston County’s land-use policies around federal detention actions,” said Board of County Commissioners Chair Tye Menser in a statement.

Revised Code of Washington 36.70A.390 requires the county to hold a hearing within at least 60 days of placing a moratorium on zoning decisions. A public hearing on the issue is set on Aug. 5, 2026. 

The county said suggestions for updated standards from staff and the planning commission are expected later this year or early next year, before the permit moratorium ends in June 2027.

The draft proposals would then be presented at another public hearing and to the board for review. 

“The (county’s) moratorium is the result of a (board) initiative begun in March to evaluate local controls regarding federal detention facilities," said the county in the news release.

"By law, the (county’s) temporary pause isn’t exclusive to federal detention facilities and extends to other public and private involuntary correctional and detention centers and as well, but officials say it won’t affect vital services like private residential facilities for sex offenders, halfway houses for juveniles, or (tribal) facilities which fall under different codes."

The county also stated that it has put a provision in the moratorium for an existing special use permit already in process for a Washington Department of Social and Health Services expansion of Maple Lane, a secure health treatment facility for civilly committed individuals.