How Much Jail Space Does Santa Barbara County Need and How Much Can We Afford?

Members of the public are being asked to share their two cents’ worth on the most ambitious and expensive jail remodeling and construction project in Santa Barbara County history at a community meeting this Wednesday.

Although members of the public are being asked their opinions on matters of jail design, the real questions at issue are: How many jail beds does the county need for residents and inmates alike to be held safely, and how many can the county afford to build and to staff according to established law enforcement staffing protocols? As usual, the answers thus far have depended almost entirely upon whom one asks.

County Sheriff Bill Brown has argued emphatically in the past that it would be irresponsible for the County Board of Supervisors to approve anything less than two new pods for the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria; systemwide, that would create a countywide complex of two jails with a capacity of 984 beds.

The supervisors — more optimistic that jail populations can be limited and controlled by diverting the mentally ill out of incarceration and into treatment — are more inclined to approve just one new pod for the Northern Branch Jail. This would bring the total number of beds countywide to 728. Given that average daily jail populations have been hovering around 750, that’s a tight squeeze and assumes that expanded diversion efforts for the mentally ill — thus far more theoretical than real — can pay sizable dividends.

Complicating matters even more, state voters just approved Proposition 36, which will lock more people up for relatively lower-level, but still serious, thefts. It’s too soon to say with reliability what kind of a burden those arrested and charged under this new law will place on the local jail system.

What everyone seems to agree upon is that the Main Jail on Calle Real is way too dysfunctional, disjointed, and decrepit to justify the massive investment required to bring its ailing infrastructure up to snuff. Its capacity will drop from 751 beds to 128; taking up the slack — considerable under any scenario — will be the new Northern Branch Jail.

Under consideration are three distinct build-out scenarios. At its most restrained — only one additional pod — the county will have a capacity of 728 beds; it’s estimated this would cost the county $94 million to build. Under the in-between scenario — one and a half pods — bed capacity would be 856 with construction costs estimated to be $132 million. And lastly, the two-pod, 984-bed proposal favored by Sheriff Brown weighs in at $160 million.

None of these price tags, however, includes annualized staffing costs. All would be financed through certificates of participation that would need to be paid off over a 30-year period.

The consultants hosting Wednesday’s public hearing will explain the numerous constraints and obligations the county now faces. No decision will be made based on Wednesday’s input. That decision won’t likely take place until the next year with a significantly altered makeup of the Board of Supervisors.

Up to now, District 1 Supervisor Das Williams has been a fierce proponent of criminal justice reforms designed to reduce the average daily number of inmates. Williams has argued long and hard in favor of maximum diversion of the mentally ill into treatment and out of jail. Replacing Williams on the board this January will be Roy Lee, a Carpinteria councilmember and business-minded moderate. The issue of jail sizing and costs did not emerge with any volume or specificity during their campaigns.

The meeting, held virtually, takes place Wednesday, December 4, at 2:30 p.m. To register, click here.