Whatcom County

The Detention Center

Whatcom County Jail (with the Interim Work Center as a second facility)

• Operated byWhatcom County Sheriff's Office, Corrections Bureau
• Jail address311 Grand Avenue, B2, Bellingham, WA 98225 — in the Public Safety Building
• Published capacityThe Corrections Bureau page describes a maximum-security facility holding approximately 245 prisoners daily
• Beds (state return)427 across the Sheriff's Office facilities (WASPC 2025)
• Average daily population322 in calendar 2025, 4,867 admissions, average length of stay 25.9 days (WASPC 2025)
• Deaths in custodyWASPC's 2025 return for the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office records 'Yes' to in-custody deaths
• Replacement facilityA new jail is being designed under the county's Justice Project; the Hannegan site was secured in March 2026, the initial budget cap is $205 million and groundbreaking is anticipated in 2027
• How the replacement is paid forA two-tenths of one percent sales and use tax approved by voters at the November 7, 2023 election; 60% is retained by the county and 40% distributed to cities per capita, deposited to a Health, Safety & Justice Fund
• Also funded by the measureA Behavioral Care Center budgeted at $20 million, plus diversion, re-entry and supportive housing
• Year built / original costNot found — checked the Corrections Bureau page, the Sheriff's Office page, the Justice Project page and the Justice Project FAQ

Source: Whatcom County — Corrections Bureau · checked 2026-08-23

• ✓The jail is named
• ✓Who is in custody
• ✓Beds and daily population
• ✓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 — not published
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Whatcom County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-23. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

The Building

You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.

• Year builtNot found
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byThe replacement facility is funded by the 0.2% Public Health, Safety and Justice sales and use tax approved by voters on November 7, 2023 (Ordinance 2023-039), with an initial jail budget cap of $205 million.
• BedsThe county's Corrections Bureau page states the jail holds approximately 245 prisoners daily; the Sheriff's Office reported 427 beds across its facilities to WASPC for 2025.

The Sheriff

Sheriff Donnell "Tank" Tanksley

• Runs the jailYes — Corrections is one of the three bureaus of the Sheriff's Office, covering the main jail and the Interim Work Center
• How the office is filledElected countywide
• BureausLaw Enforcement and Investigations; Corrections; Civil and Support Services — plus the Division of Emergency Management
• OfficePublic Safety Building, 311 Grand Avenue, B1, Bellingham, WA 98225
• Agency ageFounded 1854; serves over 230,000 residents across more than 2,500 square miles

Source: Whatcom County — Sheriff Donnell "Tank" Tanksley · checked 2026-08-23

The Judges

Washington Superior Court judges are elected in nonpartisan countywide races and District Court judges in nonpartisan district races; municipal judges are elected or appointed by their cities. All are state or city judicial officers, not county officials. A judge sets bail, not the sheriff. The Administrative Office of the Courts' directory names no presiding judge for the Whatcom Superior Court.

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 →