RESOLUTION NO. 240446

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Sponsor: Councilperson Melissa Robinson

Directing the City Manager to evaluate national and international models of costs, benefits, barriers, financing options, and policy implications to design, build, and operate a comprehensive municipal rehabilitation center inclusive of detention facilities, mental health services, inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment, and transitional housing to adequately serve the population that is currently served by our municipal justice system; and directing the City Manager to report back to Council in 30 days.

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WHEREAS, the City's Special Committee for Municipal Rehabilitation and Detention is in the process of gathering information to make recommendations to the full Council on the needs of a new rehabilitation and detention center facility; and

WHEREAS, the City is determined to maintain a municipal justice system that does not criminalize poverty, houselessness, mental illness, or individuals suffering from substance abuse; and

WHEREAS, a report by the Prison Policy Initiative, titled "Memo to Kansas City, MO: Time to rethink your plan to build a new jail," notes that the city jail is used almost exclusively for low-level charges like city ordinance violations, as people charged with more serious offenses are incarcerated in the county jail, and their analysis found that the majority of people incarcerated in the city jail were booked for crimes that did not involve any allegations of violence. The authors state that this raises serious doubts about whether more city jail beds will make the community safer or simply lock up more of its members unnecessarily; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

Section 1. That the City Manager is directed to evaluate national and international models of costs, benefits, barriers, financing options, and policy implications to design, build, and operate a comprehensive munic...

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