KC Council approves moratorium on detention centers

Published 4:10 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2026

The King County Council approved a moratorium on detention centers in unincorporated King County as an effort to limit immigration enforcement in the county.

At its March 3 meeting, the council approved an emergency one-year moratorium “prohibiting the acceptance of applications for the establishment of new or expansion of existing detention facilities as primary or accessory uses.”

District 8 Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda sponsored the measure after sponsoring an ordinance last month to not allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use non-public King County-owned land.

Mosqueda said this land regulation tool also prevents approvals through “vague or misleading” descriptions and closes gaps in regulations allowing private detention facilities before updated rules can be adopted.

“We have seen massive expansions of detention facilities across the country and often communities find out about the new facilities that are being sited in their neighborhoods when it’s too late to do anything about it,” Mosqueda said.

The cities of SeaTac and Tukwila have put into place moratoriums in place to prohibit federal detention centers within city limits. The Port of Seattle has also prohibited officials from using Port-owned properties for detention centers. The cities of Burien and Renton are looking to take similar measures, while Seattle has a council vote on a 365-day ban on new or expanded detention centers on March 10.

“What we have seen from detention facilities, when they are introduced in communities around this country, is that the sheer presence of these detention facilities, the increased presence of ICE agents, they carry serious consequences for the health and safety of the surrounding neighbors,” Mosqueda said. “They disrupt and destroy the fabric of our communities. Fewer people seek medical care. Fewer kids go to school. Less people go shopping for groceries. Fewer people seek help from our local law enforcement agents when they desperately need it. I don’t want our communities to lose trust in their local government. I want them to see the connection and the stability and see that King County as their local government is doing everything we can to further make sure our communities can thrive.”

The legislation includes “very clear” language allowing work at existing facilities in unincorporated King County to continue to proceed. This includes security and infrastructure upgrades at Echo Glen Children’s Center, a state-run juvenile rehabilitation facility, and operations at Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Shelters

The council took immediate action to avoid a potential rush of permit applications. King County Council Senior Principal Legislative Analyst Jake Tracy said the ordinance establishes a work plan for study and future legislation during that one-year period. The moratorium is also exempt from requirements to hold a public hearing, but one must be held within 60 days of adoption.

“The work plan would direct the executive to analyze and make recommendations for permanent regulations, mitigation measures, and appropriate zones for these facilities,” Tracy said.

This ordinance would also define “detention center” in King County law as any facility in which persons are incarcerated or otherwise involuntarily confined for purposes including prior to trial or sentencing to match state law RCW 70.95.020.

Tracy said if an emergency situation occurred, such as a jail flooding or fire, and a site was needed in unincorporated King County, the council could take back the moratorium to allow the transfer or could adjust the moratorium to allow for certain types of facilities in certain situations.

After executive session to discuss the possible legal risks of the moratorium, the council voted to pass it, seven to two. District 9 Councilmember Reagan Dunn and District 7 Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer voted in opposition.

Dunn said he appreciates the intent and spirit of the legislation, but moratoriums are a tool for when “a serious threat will happen if a land use decision is made.”

“It has the potential to tie the hands of jurisdictions of various kinds, including King County,” Dunn said. “If there was an earthquake or a fire or something happened to an existing jail and we needed to use a warehouse, that would be a problem. So I think there’s a lot of reasons why this is not good.”

King County has the authority under constitutional police powers, home rule authority, and the Washington state Growth Management Act, to establish a moratorium to stop the acceptance of certain new development applications while the county studies related land-use issues, a press release from Mosqueda’s office said.

“I appreciate Councilmember Mosqueda’s legislation to declare a one-year moratorium on siting any new or expanded detention facilities within unincorporated King County,” King County Executive Girmay Zahilay said in the press release. “Many friends and neighbors call King County home and to call someplace home has deep meaning rooted in things like acceptance, opportunity and safety. News that the federal government may be looking to site additional immigration detention facilities within our county jeopardizes that sense of home and the safety that should ideally come along with it.”