Blog note: This article refers to a Santa Barbara County civil grand jury report
Construction
on the Northern Branch Jail is now estimated to be finished by the end of the
year, with a 2021 opening date.
The
biggest Santa Barbara County capital project in history is even further behind
schedule with mounting costs, and the Sheriff’s Office reports that the
Northern Branch Jail has a new opening date in spring 2021.
Construction
should be substantially completed by the end of the year, followed by on-site
training for custody staff, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Raquel Zick said.
The
“final completion” date is now estimated at Feb. 26, with its opening soon
after.
The
jail was expected to open in spring 2018, but numerous delays — including the
engineering firm allegedly quitting — have pushed the timeline longer, and the
cost higher with extended and amended construction-related contracts.
The
new facility was built to reduce overcrowding at the run-down Main Jail near
Santa Barbara, and was located in the North County to reduce travel time for
booking agencies and court-related transportation.
With
376 beds, the Northern Branch Jail is not sized large enough to replace the
Main Jail, even with the lower population because of COVID-19 policies and the
push for pre-trial releases.
The
sheriff’s department reports an average daily population of 607 people since
April, which is a 33% drop from the previous year.
Diversion
programs, bail reform and alternative sentencing could affect future jail
populations, but the county plans to spend about $25 million in major
renovations on the Main Jail in the next few years, since both facilities will
need to be open.
Each
month in 2018, the Main Jail had an average of 15 to 60 “floor-sleepers,” with
no bed assigned, because of the lack of capacity, according to data released in
response to a California Public Records Act request from Noozhawk.
In
July, the county settled a federal class-action lawsuit alleging dangerous and
unconstitutional conditions at the Main Jail, and the agreement called for
providing each inmate with a bed and clean clothes, among other improvements.
A Civil Grand Jury report released this year raised concerns
about the understaffing at the sheriff’s department custody division and the
new jail’s lack of in-person visitation areas and small exercise areas.
According to that Grand Jury report, custody costs at the Main
Jail are $120 per day per inmate, or $43,800 per inmate per year.
Sheriff’s
department records show that in 2018, on average, one-third of unsentenced jail
inmates were being held on bail of less than $5,000, and 42% of inmates had
bail amounts of less than $10,000.
SANTA
BARBARA COUNTY JAIL CONTRACTS
The
county amended its Main Jail medical services contract to include the new jail,
but it doesn’t have an agreement yet for food services.
The
sheriff’s department contracts with Aramark Corp. for jail food services and
inmate commissary services, and the Board of Supervisors approved contact
extensions for both agreements in November.
Since
there is a “fluctuating” opening date for the Northern Branch Jail, near Santa
Maria, the amendments will keep services going at the Main Jail facility while
they work on a new agreement to cover both facilities, according to the staff
report to the Board of Supervisors.
The
Sheriff’s Office’s Programs Unit used to oversee the commissary program, but
now it is contracted out to the Aramark Corp.
County
supervisors approved a 90-day contract extension for $221,000 on Nov. 10, and
approved a contract with Keefe Commissary Network LLC on Dec. 15.
“This
is a revenue-generating contract where commissions pay for the vendor’s
services,” Lt. Dulce Brooks of the Sheriff’s Office’s Inmate Services Unit
wrote.
The
Keefe Commissary Network provided commissary services at the Main Jail from
2011 to 2016, when Aramark took over.
People
held in custody at the Main Jail have to pay for toiletries, including shampoo
and tampons, which are sold at the commissary.
A
Keefe Commissary Network menu from 2013 includes toiletries, shoes, stationary,
reading glasses, and food items such as ramen, peanut butter, hot chocolate
mix, chips, cans of chili, peanuts and cookies.
Inmates
in the jail who have no money rely on a hygiene kit that includes a pencil, a
razor, a toothbrush, a comb and a small bar of soap.
They
get one kit per week, but defense attorneys have said the small soaps might
last for only three showers, with careful use.
Noozhawk
BY GIANA MAGNOLI
DECEMBER 24, 2020
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