Oregon Public Broadcasting

Multnomah County took the first steps Tuesday towards opening the long-idle Wapato Jail. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

Wapato was completed in 2004 at a cost of $58 million. The money came from a bond measure, in which voters asked that addicts and alcoholics who committed crimes be treated, rather than simply incarcerated.

In announcing the plan to open 150 treatment beds at Wapato by September, county chair Ted Wheeler, said he’s fulfilling a promise to voters.

Ted Wheeler: “We know that we have a huge percentage of people who are committing crimes to support their drug and alcohol addiction problems. And if we don’t get at those underlying problems, they’ll be released to the community and they’ll re-offend.”

County sheriff, Bernie Giusto, says he’s working to make the plan a success.

It’s unclear how many beds the county will have to close at its downtown jail to make the plan work, but Wheeler says it’ll be considerably fewer than 150.