On Dec. 6, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Sheriff Bill Brown’s request to apply for a new phase of state funding that could simultaneously offer a better-equipped facility and save the county a significant amount of money.
Brown told the board the phase could be a major step in building better-equipped facilities to house existing inmates and an unexpected influx of non-violent offenders ushered into the jail thanks to the controversial Public Safety Realignment Act.
The law, which went into effect in October, is designed to save the state money and end the “revolving door” syndrome for un-rehabilitated, low-level offenders.
The sheriff is now planning to apply to the Corrections Standards Authority for an $80-million construction grant to build the much-needed North County Jail.
If successful, those funds would replace the $56 million the county was awarded in 2008. The county was glad to be awarded those funds, Brown said, but that award required the county to contribute 25 percent of the project’s total cost.
Under the new grant phase, the county would only be on the hook for 10 percent. The award would also allow the jail to provide more beds—376 up from the original 304—as well as a vital mental and medical health treatment wing.
To drive that point home, Brown reported that 21 of the 40 realignment inmates placed in the jail since October have long-term medical and/or mental health needs.
The Corrections Standards Authority is set to make its recommendations for the awards by March 2012. If the county isn’t selected, it can choose to withdraw its application and save the original award.
This article appears in Dec 15-22, 2011.