Wednesday, June 17, 2015

[Napa County] Grand jury advocates a bond measure to build a new jail


With the grand jury’s encouragement, Napa County’s funding strategy to replace an aging, overcrowded downtown jail might at some point include asking voters to pass a bond.
The county Board of Supervisors isn’t ready to go this route yet. But, during a Monday budget hearing, supervisors briefly broached the idea of a bond measure for a new jail.
If they give the issue a good, hard look, they’ll be following the Napa County grand jury’s advice.
A new grand jury report describes a downtown jail damaged by the Aug. 24 earthquake. It looks at challenges there, such as trying to adapt the building to the state’s move to house some felons in county jails as opposed to state prisons.
“The current jail was problematic even before the earthquake, but now the urgency for a new, larger and more modern correctional facility has risen to a higher level,” the report said.
Supervisors should consider by June 30, 2016 a bond measure to pay for a portion of new jail construction costs, the grand jury recommended.
In 2014, Napa County bought 27 acres for a new, 366-bed jail near the Syar quarry along Highway 221. With construction cost estimates as high as $150 million, the county plans to build the jail in phases.
The county plans to initially build a $66 million, 96-bed jail by late 2020 that it can later expand. It will apply this summer for $20 million through the state’s jail-building program. It plans to get the remaining $46 million from savings, the sale of surplus county property and other sources.
But the $20 million from the state isn’t in the bank, not with other counties also seeking a limited amount of state dollars.
“I want to stress, this is a highly competitive process,” county Principal Management Analyst Liz Habkirk told supervisors.
Should the county build and open phase one of the new jail, it would still need to operate the downtown jail. The new jail at that point wouldn’t be big enough to house all of the inmates.
This would entail duplicating some positions needed at both jails, such as shift supervisors, Habkirk said. The county could need another 50 to 60 jail staff members at a cost of $5 million to $6 million annually.
Meanwhile, it would still be spending money maintaining an aging downtown jail that has high upkeep costs. These and other factors, such as today’s low interest rates, had Supervisor Keith Caldwell considering a bond measure to build a new jail big enough to dispense with the old jail.
“Putting money into a facility built in 1978 and additional staffing – I think people get it,” Caldwell said.
But county officials said it is unlikely the county could borrow enough money without going to the voters. A jail bond measure paid for by property taxes would have to receive two-thirds of the vote to pass.
“I know it’s always hard to sell a jail to the public and telling that story,” Supervisor Alfred Pedroza said.
Supervisor Mark Luce suggested an alternative. The county could look into having private enterprise build the jail and then lease space back or pay a fee for jail services, he said.
In its new report, the grand jury makes the case for putting the new jail “on a fast track.”
The earthquake lowered the downtown jail’s capacity from 264 inmates to 204. Napa County is paying to house some of its inmates in the Solano County jail at a cost of $87 per inmate per day. The annual cost to the county could top $3 million, the grand jury report said.
Assaults of correctional officers at the downtown jail rose from four in 2011-12 to 31 in 2013-14. The grand jury sees a number of reasons for this, including the state’s prison realignment program and jail overcrowding.
California launched its realignment program in 2011. Some felons previously housed at state prisons—those deemed guilty of non-violent, non-serious and non-sex offenses—are now housed in county jails. The state took this step in part to deal with its own prison overcrowding problems.
As a result, an influx of “criminally sophisticated inmates” are bringing “state prison attitudes and culture” to the county jail, the grand jury report said. Also, county jails are holding some inmates longer than before realignment.
“Inmates with longer stays have begun to conform to a pattern seen in prison where power is concentrated with the prisoners, grouping themselves by race and gangs and creating their own rules and punishments,” the report stated.
The downtown jail deals with these issues by grouping inmates by classifications in common areas, taking into consideration such factors as gang affiliations, the report said. But jail overcrowding means some inmates can no longer go to common areas for extended parts of the day because of clashes in classification.
“These restrictions to cells due to overcrowding and classification status are not conducive to safety or reduced recidivism,” the report said.
Other reasons for the increase in correctional officer assaults is a rise in inmates sneaking drugs and other contraband into the jail since realignment and the influx of more mental health patients, the report stated.
A short-term step recommended by the grand jury is to buy a body scanner to better search for contraband hidden in body cavities. Jail officials say the booking area has no room for a body scanner, the report said. The grand jury wants the jail to find the room.
Even if the county moves ahead to construct a new jail, the grand jury sees interim work that needs to be done at the old jail.
Among other things, the earthquake damaged the jail’s control room that can lock and unlock doors. This communications center has poor video monitors and a location vulnerable in a crisis, the report said. The grand jury called the control center “marginally operational.”
Plans to upgrade and move the control center have been delayed in the wake of the earthquake. The grand jury wants the county to fund and implement the project by January 2017. This is needed to safely manage access and control operations at the old jail until a new jail is built, the report stated.
June 16, 2015
Napa Valley Register
By Barry Eberling

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