Group Home for Sex Offenders Will Not Open in Thurston County

A new home for sex offenders will not open in Thurston County.  This comes after hundreds of people  spoke out against the plan to open a less restrictive and less secure group home for sex offenders in the Tenino area.  But three hundred people stepped up to say they opposed that plan, at a sheriff’s town hall.

This week the operator of the property cancelled the plan.

State Senator Drew McEwen credits the residents for speaking out.

 “My hats off to them.   They were loud and vociferous,” he said. 

He says lawmakers in Olympia need to step up to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again. The Shelton Republican says he’ll continue to press for bills to address this issue.

The operator of that proposed home for sex predators from a secure facility on McNeil Island stopped the project after Thurston County Commissioners questioned permitting.

Supreme Living, a residential care service that has a contract with the Washington State Department of Corrections and was supposed to be operating the home as a Less Restrictive Alternative, says due to resources and expenses associated with land use requirements, it would no longer be housing sex offenders at the Tenino property.