Starting Jan. 1, all suspects arrested in Covington will be housed in the South Correctional Entity (SCORE) in Des Moines.

Currently, felony arrest and pretrial misdemeanor arrests are housed in the King County jail, while post-trial misdemeanor prisoners are housed in the Buckley jail.

Approved by the Covington City Council at its June 28 meeting, the switch was made in an effort to cut public safety costs, according to City Manager Derek Matheson, as well as simplify the inmate housing situation.

“It’s a lot cheaper in Buckley, but it’s complicated to have two jails,” said Matheson.

It’s also costly. The city pays $135 a day per inmate at the King County jail, plus an additional $452 booking fee. In Buckley, it $57 a day, but no booking fee.

Housing inmates is expected to cost the city $278,000 this year alone.

“We’re always looking for the opportunity to reduce costs in public safety,” Matheson said. “When you add it together, it is a good chunk of our budget.”

At the SCORE jail it will cost $128 a day and no booking fee.

“When you compare our King-Buckley combination, it’s going to significantly reduce our jail costs,” said Matheson. “It depends on the number of people you put in jail and how long they spend in jail. We’re going to have to do it for a few months before we know how much we save on an annual basis.”

The SCORE jail is a consortium of seven different cities: Auburn, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Renton, SeaTac and Tukwila.

“We’ve watched the SCORE cities come together and we’ve watched the jail be built over a number of years,” said Matheson.

Matheson stated that all inmates in the Buckley jail will be transferred on Jan. 1 as a part of the switch. King County, on the other hand, will be done on a case-by-case basis, depending on where they are in the court process.

Under state law, counties are responsible for housing felon arrestees, while cities are responsible for housing misdemeanor arrests.