The Tacoma News Tribune reported Sunday that some state lawmakers are hoping to move the state’s center for sexually violent predators off McNeil Island in South Puget Sound.
The move could save the state some $6.6 million a year. The problem with moving it: would you want to live next door to such a place?
The center, which the Kitsap Sun devoted a special report to in December 2010, was a bit cheaper to run when the state Department of Corrections ran a prison on the island, and could save money by having inmates work aboard the ferries and other core island tasks. But now that corrections is gone, the Special Commitment Center, home to nearly 300 people deemed sexually violent, is even more expensive.
The SCC houses those who’ve done their prison time but have been determined by a jury to be too dangerous to release until they can be treated.
I ask you, dear readers: Is it worth saving the money to move this facility?
