The Detention Center
Clallam County Corrections Facility
- Operated byClallam County Sheriff's Office
- Jail address223 East 4th Street, Suite 20, Port Angeles, WA 98362 — in the county courthouse
- BuiltConstructed 1978–1979, opened 1980
- Original design capacity72 inmates plus a special detention unit
- Current published capacity120 beds; the special detention unit was remodelled into a chain gang / inmate worker housing unit
- 2025 average daily population75.17; 1,644 admissions; average length of stay 18.7 days (WASPC 2025)
- In-custody deaths 2025WASPC's 2025 jail statistics record 'Yes' for in-custody deaths at the Clallam County Sheriff's Office
- Bookings reference pointOver 3,000 bookings processed in 2009 — the most recent booking figure on the county page
- Posting bailCash or bond only; during business hours bail is paid at the court, after hours at the jail lobby, or online/by phone through GovPayNet
- Original cost / fundingNot found — checked the Jail Facilities page, the Sheriff pages, the County Budgets page and the county sitemap
Source: Clallam County — Jail Facilities · checked 2026-08-23
Transparency rating
4/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✓What it costs taxpayers
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✓How to post bond
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtBuilt 1978–1979, opened 1980
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds120 (county Jail Facilities page); originally designed for 72 inmates. WASPC 2025 also reports 120 beds and an average daily population of 75.17
Since then
- The special detention unit was remodelled to include a chain gang / inmate worker housing unit, raising operating capacity from the original 72 to 120 — date and cost not published
The Sheriff
Sheriff Brian King
- Runs the jailYes — the Clallam County Corrections Facility is run by the Sheriff's Office; the jail pages sit under Departments > Sheriff
- How the office is filledElected countywide. Clallam is a home rule charter county, but the sheriff remains elected
- DutiesRCW 36.28 — the county's own sheriff page cites it
- Office223 E 4th Street, Suite 12, Port Angeles, WA 98362 — 360-417-2262
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Clallam County — Sheriff · checked 2026-08-23
The Judges
Washington Superior Court judges are elected in nonpartisan countywide races, and District Court judges are elected in nonpartisan district races. Both are state judicial officers, not county officials — the county pays part of the cost but does not choose the judge. A judge, not the sheriff or the jail, sets bail. Court rosters here come from the Administrative Office of the Courts' county directory.
Clallam County Superior Court — 223 E 4th St, Ste 8, Port Angeles
- Simon Barnhart, Judge
- W. Brent Basden, Judge
- Elizabeth A. Stanley, Judge
- Lorraine A. Rimson, Commissioner
Clallam County District Court I — Port Angeles (also serves Port Angeles and Sequim as municipal court)
- David Neupert, Judge
Clallam County District Court II — Forks (also serves Forks as municipal court)
- Bruce Hanify, Judge
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-23
The County Commissioners
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
- The boardBoard of County Commissioners →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- capacity: 120 beds is published, but the county publishes no daily or average population, so the check fails on the second half.
- prea: the county posts a one-page PREA statement (DocumentCenter/View/4941) describing its zero-tolerance policy and reporting routes. It is a policy notice, not an audit result, and it still names a former sheriff, so the check is marked no.
- deaths: WASPC's 2025 statistics record an in-custody death at the Clallam County Sheriff's Office, and the state Department of Health has published two unexpected-fatality reviews naming the office. The county itself publishes nothing about either.
- fees: the Commissary and Cashier Kiosk page says a convenience fee is deducted from each deposit but does not say how much, and no phone or video visit rates are published.
- WASPC 2025 statewide jail statistics: https://www.waspc.org/annual-jail-statistics
- Three commissioners elected by district under a home rule charter: Mark Ozias (District 1), Randy Johnson (District 2), Mike French (District 3). Work sessions 9 am Mondays, regular meetings 10 am Tuesdays in Room 160 of the courthouse; many executive functions are delegated to the County Administrator. No jail district and no published dedicated jail tax.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Clallam County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the commissioners who pay for it.
The county auditor runs the election in Clallam County and prints the ballot the sheriff’s name is on. Links from USA.gov and vote.gov.
Names verified 2026-08-23 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered