Report: Seattle-Area Jail Hired Dozens of Guards Who Couldn’t Pass Immigration Requirements – Most Still Illegally Employed

A Washington state jail that appeared to have solved its staffing problems may have some explaining to do.

The King County Department of Adult & Juvenile Detention is under scrutiny after a local radio show’s investigative piece into its hiring policies exploded.

King County, which includes Seattle, and its jail system have had a well-documented issue with staffing, as reported by The Center Square.

In fact, staffing was bad enough in the county that there were jail booking restrictions in place for four years against low-level and non-violent crime suspects, as the county scrambled to fill positions.

And for a while, it appeared they had filled those positions, largely thanks to its “recruiting efforts.”

The Center Square reported that the DAJD added 77 officers in 2023 and over 100 officers in 2024.

Earlier in October, however, a whistleblower complaint alleged that the DAJD hired over 100 unqualified immigrants to fill those roles, including some with expired visas.

“These hires are in direct violation of the statutory requirements set forth by state law,” the whistleblower wrote in the complaint, according to the Daily Mail.

The letter also claimed that this scheme has been going on for years.

This story and whistleblower complaint were first broken by “The Jason Rantz Show” on Seattle Red 770 AM, but the investigative local radio show wasn’t done after the initial report.

The show followed up on its story and found out another stunning fact: At least 38 of these correctional officers were hired and certified despite failing to meet the immigration-eligibility requirement under state law.

Even more alarming? The state has apparently acknowledged this — and continues to employ them anyway.

“Under Revised Code of Washington 43.101.095 (RCW 43.101.095), the state may not certify a corrections officer unless they are U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or individuals covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program,” the radio show reported. “Rather than simply admit error and fix the hiring and vetting process, the DAJD is reportedly planning to challenge the state law, arguing that they should be able to hire Corrections Officers with work visas.”

The DAJD appeared to largely justify its employment of these officers in question.

“All are fully trained as corrections officers and authorized to work in the United States,” a DAJD statement to Rantz’ show said. “King County is committed to safety and the fair treatment of these officers and continues to work closely with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.

“We are keeping all available avenues of relief open at this time.”

The DAJD also reiterated that it would not remove these officers, primarily due to operational need.

“To ensure the integrity of jail operations and the safety of our staff and those in our custody, most of the officers continue to work their assigned shifts while we have ongoing conversations with the CJTC about next steps. All officers who continue to perform duties have completed full training through the CJTC,” a DAJD representative told Rantz’ show.

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