Agreement May Bring Jail to North County

On Tuesday the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted to sign a cooperation agreement with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. According to a staff report, the agreement aims to “reduce crime and combat the effects of recidivism by allocating state resources to ensure comprehensive parolee re-entry supervision and continuing services for parolees” returning to the county.

The agreement doesn’t mean the county is financially obligated to do anything, but that Sheriff Bill Brown and his staff can begin to work together with the Department of Corrections on designs, programming, and other development processes for a North County facility which would double as a county jail and re-entry facility for state prisoners returning to society. It’s a “win, win” situation, Brown said Tuesday.

Through a potential agreement, the county would only have to pay for three-eighths of the facility, and that price could be even further minimized by state jail funding grant money. These grant money opportunities will be enhanced if the county participates in the re-entry program, Brown said.

The last estimated price of building a jail in Santa Barbara County was $153 million.