OLYMPIA, WA — On Monday, Governor Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1232 into law, establishing new state oversight over privately run detention facilities, including the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma and Martin Hall, a youth detention facility near Spokane. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self (D-21), empowers the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) to inspect private detention centers to ensure compliance with minimum health and safety standards—such as access to clean drinking water, food safety, and medical care.
Currently, private detention facilities in Washington operate without meaningful transparency or accountability. For years, DOH inspectors have been blocked from entering the Northwest ICE Processing Center, operated by the for-profit prison corporation GEO Group. In 2023, lawmakers passed HB 1470 to grant DOH authority to regulate health and safety in the facility, but parts of that law were struck down by a federal judge and are now under appeal. HB 1232 builds on and clarifies the state’s inspection authority –ensuring that DOH can move forward with unannounced inspections and impose fines of up to $10,000 per violation, or up to $1 million total for continued noncompliance.
“At a time when national headlines highlight the dangerous lack of transparency at private detention facilities—including the arrest of a sitting mayor attempting to visit a GEO-run center in New Jersey—Washington is taking a stand to protect due process and access to justice,” said Hannah Woerner, attorney at Columbia Legal Services, who helped lead advocacy efforts for the bill. “HB 1232 will allow state inspectors to hold these facilities accountable for human rights abuses.”
This victory reflects years of advocacy by directly impacted people and grassroots organizers. Columbia Legal Services worked in close partnership with community group La Resistencia, whose leadership and organizing have been essential in exposing abuses at the Northwest ICE Processing Center and demanding meaningful oversight. Their tireless advocacy helped make this policy change possible.
“We know that conditions at [the Northwest ICE Processing Center] have gotten worse this year. We demand that the law be enforced and that there be an inspection as soon as possible to at least improve the inhumane conditions our people are suffering daily,” said Liliana Chumpitasi, Deputy Director of La Resistencia.
HB 1232 also expands the definition of “private detention facility” to include sites operated by nonprofit entities, such as Martin Hall, a youth detention center in Eastern Washington run by a Montana-based corporation.
The bill took effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature. The Department of Health will soon begin the rulemaking process to develop and adopt enforceable health and safety standards for private detention facilities across Washington.
Recent Comments