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Hey, good morning. Patricia Murphy here. It's Saturday. This is Seattle now. Today we're bringing you the best from the KUOW Newsroom. First, nearly three years after a young man died by suicide in Click Attack County Jail. In South Central Washington, a new audit finds conditions are better. That's after county commissioners removed the jail from the sheriff's oversight.

Lawyers for the family say their settlement helps spur these changes. Amy Radle explains.

Melissa Howde-Pat has heard anecdotes about the booking process at the Click-Atack County Jail in

Goldendale in recent years, and they're positive. People describe in-depth screenings

checking into their substance use and mental health. I feel a little bit better about the safety

of people in jail now, in this jail. Ever since her son died by suicide while in fentanyl withdrawal

in that jail, Howde-Pat has campaigned for changes. She takes posters

of Ivan to community events. She worked to pass a state law warning young people about the dangers of

fentanyl. And she obtained a $2 million settlement with Click Attack County that required jail improvements.

There's a lot of ways that we are still honoring him and doing the settlement was one of them.

She says when Ivan was arrested for violating probation, multiple relatives told deputies he suffered

from addiction and needed to be closely monitored. But jail officials failed to catch signs that he

was at risk for suicide. His death and the near-death condition of another woman,

both enrolled members of the Yakima Nation, sparked criticism of the jail's leadership, Sheriff Bob

Sanger and jail supervisor Lauren Culp. County commissioners looked at closing the jail entirely

and sending inmates to Oregon. But ultimately, Houtapat says they kept the jail under new leadership.

I was really, really happy with the fact that they took the jail away from the sheriff.

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