08/16/2015
The move officially started Saturday morning. Most of the jail’s inmates, about 350 in total, were loaded onto three state Department of Corrections buses and driven the two-and-a-half miles to the ARC.
Each bus was accompanied by a law enforcement es**rt, a team of two members of the county’s SWAT team driving an unmarked vehicle. Thoma said the choice to use the unmarked DOC buses and inconspicuous patrol cars was intentional.
“We didn’t want to go full bells and sirens,” Thoma said. “We wanted to fly under the radar.”
In fact, most Thurston County residents weren’t informed of the move. Thoma said people were informed of the plan on a need-to-know basis. Local law enforcement agencies were in the know, as were attorneys and some county employees.
Thoma said the Sheriff’s Office kept quiet about the move for security purposes.
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Thurston County’s long-empty Accountability and Restitution Center is vacant no more. The new jail’s cells and dormitories are full of inmates, and the once bustling former Thurston County Jail is empty.