Yakima County Jail Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Coronavirus Cases Rise Sharply In Yakima County Jail

By NWPB News July 14, 2020

The Yakima County Jail is facing a rising COVID-19 case count as of July 2020. CREDIT: Google Maps

The first person in the Yakima County jail tested positive for coronavirus in May — an inmate who transferred to the Yakima County jail from the city jail in Sunnyside, 35 miles southeast of Yakima. On July 6, the jail reported that 83 inmates had caught the virus, and this number continues to grow.Read More

COVID-19 Cases In Yakima Jail And Coyote Ridge Prison In Eastern Washington Continue Rising

By NWPB News June 18, 2020

An image from the Washington State Department of Corrections website page for Coyote Ridge, a prison in eastern Washington with a capacity for 2,468 inmates. CREDIT: Washington DOC

Even as Washington counties work to reopen in various phases of the state’s four-phase reopening plan, county jails and state prisons and corrections institutions continue to deal with coronavirus outbreaks and COVID-19 infections. Read More

14 Inmates Escape Yakima County Jail, Reportedly Over Coronavirus Concerns

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa March 24, 2020

Motorists captured video of Yakima County Jail escaping over a fence on Monday, March 23. CREDIT: Briseida & Alex Gonzalez / screengrab video / KAPP-KVEW

According to the county Department of Corrections, the captured inmates told officials they were upset after Gov. Jay Inslee announced a statewide order to stay at home to fight the coronavirus pandemic and “the virus outbreak has them all scared.”Read More