Frustrated by the ongoing funding cuts made to his department, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown is proposing the Board of Supervisors approve a half-cent sales tax for the Nov. 2 ballot. If approved by voters, the revenue raised would go toward constructing a North County jail and other public safety costs.
Brown was scheduled to plead his case to the board at its June 22 meeting in Santa Barbara. In a letter to the board, the newly re-elected sheriff said the sales tax would greatly improve the county’s jail overcrowding problem.
A court-ordered jail population capacity limit placed on the county since the 1980s has forced the Sheriff’s Department to release offenders early or not place some in jail at all.
“For more than twenty years, grand jury reports regarding jail overcrowding have been released expressing concerns pertaining to the continued jail overcrowding issue and delay in reaching a permanent solution,” Brown said in the letter.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, the county jail is currently capable of housing 818 inmates, but consistently operates at 120 percent capacity. Industry standards suggest jails be populated at 85 percent capacity to handle surges in arrests and changes in inmate demographics.
Over the last several years, the department has pursued several alternatives to building a new county jail, including programs designed to reduce recidivism rates. However, the county now faces a situation where the reduction of criminal activity and other alternatives alone won’t solve the jail-overcrowding problem.
“Further, given the present state budget dilemma and the proposed release of state prisoners to the local jurisdictions, local jail overcrowding may become significantly worse in the near future,” Brown said in
the letter.
According to a 2008 report, the cost of construction is estimated at $80 million and ongoing operational costs are estimated at approximately $15 to $17 million annually. The county has since received conditional approval for a $56.3 grant, but that money is contingent upon the county funding the remaining costs.
The recommended measure, which needs a two-thirds approval rate, would generate $30 million annually for a period of 10 years. Half of those funds would go toward jail construction and the other half would go toward incarceration prevention and treatment, and enhanced law enforcement and fire protective services. The measure also has a clause specifying that all revenue generated by the measure would remain local and couldn’t be redirected to the state.
Brown requested in the letter that the board schedule two more hearings for the measure, with final approval slated for
mid July.
For more information about the measure, visit countyofsb.org or sbsheriff.org.
This article appears in Jun 24 – Jul 1, 2010.
