Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley.

OLYMPIA – Overcrowding in the state’s juvenile and adult corrections facilities would be relieved under a plan from Sen. Leonard Christian to house inmates at the state Capitol and give Washington lawmakers an opportunity to touch their lives.

Senate Bill 5760, known as the “Inmates in Olympia Act,” would transform the General Administration Building on the Washington Capitol Campus into a center for transitional re-entry programs. The building, currently slated for demolition, would become a co-located work-release center for adults and a community facility for juveniles. Christian said the measure would improve inmates’ access to their state government.

“Often we lock away our state’s juvenile offenders and convicted adult felons when they commit crimes, and this tends to send them a message of disapproval,” explained Christian, R-Spokane Valley. “By housing them on the Capitol Campus, this Legislature can signal its interest in inmate needs and give lawmakers the close contact they deserve.”

Christian noted that over the last several years, the needs of inmates have been a top priority for the Legislature’s majority party, from mass releases of prisoners to a 2021 law automatically restoring voting rights for convicted felons. Last year a proposal in the House would have given prison inmates the right to vote, serve on juries and run for political office – all while doing time.

This year lawmakers are considering HB 1118, which would allow drug felons with long sentences to have their firearms rights restored.

“This Legislature is so dedicated to the interests of inmates that my majority-party counterparts are proposing that we put firearms in the hands of convicted felons,” Christian said. “But why should we stop there? As this Legislature works to reduce the stigma of having committed a crime, it can lead by example by fully integrating our inmate population with the Capitol community.”

Christian said he looks forward to the day when orange-suited prisoners do their calisthenics on the Capitol steps.

“Some might worry about problems when violent and dangerous felons are housed in close proximity to legislators,” Christian said. “Certainly we need to worry about unsavory influences. But I am confident the inmate population will be able to resist.”