Upcoming Programs

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• Jail - Justice - Diversion

  • When
    Wednesday, May 28, 2025
  •  
    12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
  • Location
    Bellingham Yacht Club
  • Spaces left
    99

  Register

  Coming May 28:  Jail-Justice-Diversion, Today and Tomorrow

  12:00 p.m., May 28, at the Bellingham Yacht Club
  2625 S Harbor Loop Dr.

  Purchase of tickets* in advance is strongly advised; click here to register.

  Member price is $25; non-member price is $30; youth under 25 is $10; program only tickets (no meal or table seating) are $10.
  Attendance is limited to 150.

  Registration closes at 6:00pm, Sunday, May 25.  Doors open at 11:30am.

  Note: A short annual member meeting will be conducted starting at 11:50am.

  In November 2023 Whatcom County voters endorsed a plan for a new jail that would be supported by strong behavioral health and diversion programs. In May, our panel will detail the successes and challenges facing plans to implement these critical improvements. We will analyze the treatment and diversion programs that are in use today, those that are being designed for a future facility and provide a look into the jail planning process. We will also explore how cuts to state and federal funding, inflation, tariffs, and declining sales tax revenue will impact the largest public works project in the history of Whatcom County. Our guests will include Starck Follis, the Director of the Public Defender’s Office, County Councilperson Barry Buchanan and Kayla Schott-Bresler, Whatcom County Deputy Executive. Join us for this important discussion.

  Caterer:  Guud Bowls

  *Tickets are nonrefundable.

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