SLO grand jury concerned about crowded jail facilities
By Adobe Staff
The San Luis Obispo County grand jury is disturbed over the perpetual overcrowding at the women’s jail and an antiquated and hard-to-manage medical/health facility at the California Men’s Colony.

“The County Women’s Jail and the CMC Medical/Health Facility caused concern,” the jurors wrote in an 11-page report released last week.

“The jail is overcrowded and its facilities are unable to accommodate total bedding requirements. The CMC medical/health facility is antiquated and difficult for staff to manage.”

On the bright side, the jurors note in the report that “fortunately, both have received funding for upgrades and improvements over the next three years.”

The women’s jail has a maximum capacity design of 43. On any given day, the number of women housed at the facility is almost double. The population was 82 on the day the grand jury visited the facility.

A women’s jail expansion project has been approved by the Board

of Supervisors, with construction expected to be complete in three years. The expanded facility will have the capacity for 196 beds, however, Sheriff Ian Parkinson said his goal is to not fill all those beds.

“The idea is to keep the number down,” Parkinson said. “The goal is to not have that many (offenders) in custody.”

The jurors also conclude that, despite ongoing budget constraints and staffing reductions at the inspected facilities, the institutions appeared to be generally well-managed, according to the report.

“The grand jury commends the management and staff at detention facilities visited in the county.”

Jurors, however, warn that if early intervention and other programs aimed at reducing recidivism rates among juvenile offenders continue to lose funding, the cost to taxpayers will be “significantly higher ... for incarceration in our local and state adult detention centers.”

“The grand jury is concerned that society continues to ‘feed the problem’ rather than ‘break the cycle,’ resulting in higher costs, social outcasts and more complex issues to face,” jurors wrote.

The county’s 2010-11 grand jury came to its conclusions after inspecting

13 local law enforcement facilities, including CMC, the seven cities’ police departments, the county Sheriff’s Department, Juvenile Services Center and Superior Court holding cells.

The grand jury released a second report that examined drug and alcohol prevention programs aimed at youths in the county.

Juvenile use of alcohol and drugs in the county exceeds both state and federal averages, with alcohol being the most widely used substance among youths. Marijuana is the most frequently used illicit drug among older students, according to the report.

Although the report revealed a higher rate of alcohol and drug use among the county’s youths than other parts of the state and country, the grand jurors found there are numerous services available to the help juveniles in need.

“With the wide array of services available to county youth, San Luis Obispo County offers every juvenile the opportunity to overcome drug and alcohol problems and become successful in life,” jurors wrote.

Both reports can be viewed online at

www.slocourts.net/grand_jury.

http://www.theadobepress.com/articles/2011/06/30/news/nipomo/news09.txt