The Tehama County Board of Supervisors accepted a Local Adult Detention Facility Needs Assessment Study Tuesday, the next step in a $20 million grant proposal to expand the county’s jail.
County staff estimates the new facility, which will expand the jail and centralize other aspects of Tehama County’s criminal justice system, including a new day reporting center, will cost $21,963,500.
The maximum grant award under the SB-1022 Construction of Adult Local Criminal Justice Facilities program is $20 million.
The county’s proposed $1,963,500 match will include $865,000 in-kind contributions, including $400,000 of site acquisition costs associated with utilizing the existing Tehama County Library site.
County staff estimates the new facility will cost around $2 million per year to operate.
The needs assessment study was completed by a consulting team including the Criminal Justice Research Foundation, Lionakis Architects and Vanir Inc.
The county paid Lionakis $99,540 for the study, a requirement to receive SB-1022 funding.
The study was paid for out of the county’s share of AB-109 prison realignment funds.
The jail, which was built in 1977 with a major addition in 1994, is rated for a capacity of 191 inmates and houses pretrial and sentenced offenders.
According to the study, the Jail will be 64 beds short in 2014 with the full impact of AB-109 not reaching Tehama County Jail until June 2015.
Even if a new facility was built, with rising population trends, the Tehama County Jail would be 15 beds short by 2018. By 2032 the study estimates the combined facility would be 72 beds short.
The study recommends the county increase the use of a Release On Own Recognizance program.
It’s research found that the vast majority of defendants who are released return for all court appearances and that those released on their own recognizance are just as effective as financial forms of release.
It found many non-appearances were due to system problems or factors other than the defendant. The study included a physical assessment of the jail.
Outside of the structure itself the jail received a rating of inadequate or lower for space, HVAC, plumbing, electrical and lightning, noise control, fire safety, ADA compliance and security.
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Rich Greene can be reached at 527-2151, Ext. 109 or by email at rgreene@redbluffdailynews.c om.
