PORT ANGELES — Clallam County is still working to reach a new criminal justice services agreement with the cities of Port Angeles and Sequim, as a temporary contract extension moves past its halfway point.
County Administrator Todd Mielke told commissioners the previous 10-year agreement expired at the end of 2025, and negotiations over a replacement have yet to produce a final deal.
Mielke says the issue centers on how much cities should pay the county for services like prosecution, public defense, court operations, and jail use.
He explained that state law requires cities to cover the full cost of those services within their limits — and prohibits counties from subsidizing them.
“One governmental entity should not subsidize another in providing those services. The entity contracting for services shouldn’t pay more than the actual cost, and the one providing the services shouldn’t receive less than what those services actually cost. So that’s the framework that we’re working under,” Mielke told commissioners.
The county calculated its costs based on actual 2024 expenses, breaking them into four categories — prosecution , public defense, district court, and jail services — and then allocating those costs based on each city’s share of cases.
Negotiations with both cities began in early 2025 but stalled before the contract deadline, leading to a six-month extension that is now more than halfway complete.
“We were not able to build an agreement by December 31st of 2025, so we rolled that over into a six-month contract extension. Today, we’re just a little bit beyond the halfway mark,” said Mielke.
Mielke says the county is now working through each category of service with city officials, answering questions and refining cost details in hopes of reaching a final agreement before the extension expires.
Until then, the current arrangement remains in place — with both sides still trying to bridge the gap on what those services should cost going forward.