SPOKANE, Wash. – After Spokane City Councilmember Zack Zappone told NonStop Local that the Spokane County Jail was full, Spokane County officials released a statement calling his claim “inaccurate.”
The jail’s occupancy is a critical piece of data in conversations regarding police conduct and capabilities, public safety and funding usage.
Zappone’s original comments about jail capacity were made while talking about jailing repeat offenders, .
“The jail is full and it’s at capacity and the county runs it, and they are on the red light that is turning people away,” he said.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels responded directly to Zappone’s comment in the release from Spokane County, which linked containing Zappone’s interview.
“Councilman Zappone’s comments about current available jail capacity and operations at the jail that distort reality are unhelpful, irresponsible and put the community’s safety at risk,” said Nowels.
“We have available beds to house people who are disrupting public order and violating the law. All jurisdictions we serve can modify their own policies and utilize these available beds. In the future, I hope Councilman Zappone will check his facts with Jail and County leadership before spreading bad information,” he continued.
Spokane County Detention Services Don Hooper also weighed in in the County’s statement and said that Spokane County has “capacity within the current system to house misdemeanor offenders, when necessary.”
The statement referred users to Spokane County’s Detention Services Dashboard, which displays criminal justice data like the populations of the Downtown Jail and Geiger Corrections Center, which are updated daily.
The dashboard’s main page displays total populations, usable beds in each wing, average custody length, a counter tracking Red Light Status in the last 30 days and more.
On October 13, 2025 at 2:44 p.m., the dashboard indicated that the downtown location had 154 open beds and the Geiger location had -4 open beds.
The dashboard also indicated that the detention centers counted 23 instances and 124 hours of Red Light Status.
The dashboard’s glossary says that Red Light Status “represents periods of time when the Jail booking center is closed due to overcapacity or jail security issues.”
However, Spokane County Director of Communications Patrick Bell said that the dashboard’s Red Light Status now refers only to security or health related issues at the jail.
Hooper addressed the alleged difference between Red Light Status and capacity issues during the County’s strategic planning meeting on October 13.
“I’m not saying that there never been, but since February and March, we have not been going to red light because of capacity,” he said. “If something could cause us to go to red light, it would be a staffing issue, like with medical or an emergency.”
After the County released a statement calling Zappone’s claims inaccurate, Zappone answered back in a press release and said, “It’s disappointing that Spokane County public safety officials would hide behind a press release targeting me rather than answer the serious questions me and my constituents have about jail capacity.”
Zappone said that he reached out to Hooper, Lieutenant Sparber four times in the month of September, asking them to attend the City of Spokane’s Public Safety and Community Health Committee, and he received no response from them.
Zappone included pdfs of his disregarded invites to the Spokane County officials.
“My constituents and residents of Spokane are concerned about jail capacity and don’t know what is going on. As Public Safety and Community Health chair, I have tried to get clarity and jail leadership has stopped responding,” he wrote.
Zappone referred to the Detention Services Dashboard, pointing out the frequency of Red Light Status alerts.
His release ended in an invitation to Spokane County leadership to attend his October 27 Public Safety and Community Health Committee meeting.
This is an opportunity for them to educate the public instead of making statements in a press release.” Zappone said.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has posted three times since March 2025 about suspects .”
These incidents involved suspects arrested for causes including theft, reckless burning, arson and malicious mischief on April 25, 2025, July 14, 2025 and September 24, 2025.
