Overcrowding Still Plaguing County Jail

Sheriff Bill Brown and members of the criminal justice field met for the first time April 26 to address the challenges facing Santa Barbara County’s jail facilities and overcrowding.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Jail Overcrowding was formed to analyze problems with the current system and generate short and long-term solutions to the problems it identifies. The end result could be the Commission approaching the Board of Supervisors with plans to construct a North County Jail in Santa Maria.

“We’re open to whatever solutions they come up with, but [building a North County jail], to me, would be the most obvious solution that they would come up with,” said Sheriff Deputy and committee member Jeff Banks.

The Commission was formed following a Dec. 9, 2006 contempt of court order filed by attorney Robert Sanger. Sanger filed the first overcrowding lawsuit against the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department in 1981. The lawsuit has been ongoing ever since.

Sanger said he continues with the case because despite the sheriff’s efforts to curb overcrowding, the conditions facing county jail inmates, which include inmates sleeping on floors, are still unacceptable. “We did this as a last resort. I’m not here to irritate the sheriff,” Sanger said.

Gregory C. Paraskou, the public defender handling the case, agreed that floor sleeping and the security risks associated with overcrowding are unacceptable. “The issue is that it’s not an appropriate way to treat inmates,” he said.

According to statistics provided by Commander Jenny Sams of the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Department, as the average daily population at the Santa Barbara jail increased 14.4 percent from 2000 to 2005, inmate on inmate violence rose over 150 percent. In that same time, there was also an increase of nearly 67 percent in inmate on officer violence. “As with anything, if you’re dealing with having too many people in a place that was built for less, tensions will rise,” Sams said.

Since the 1981 lawsuit, the Santa Barbara County Jail has been expanded numerous times and alternative sentencing programs have been instated. The Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (SWAP) was created to avoid sending low-risk inmates into jail. Electronic monitoring of work furlough inmates keeps beds free for inmates who do not qualify for or do not want the alternative sentence. Using Santa Maria’s existing jail to house inmates has been discussed, but the jail is not properly equipped to house inmates indefinitely.

While these programs have freed beds temporarily, none have eliminated the nagging problem of overcrowding.

“Initially you would notice a lowering in the population of the main jail,” Sams said. “But as time goes by, the population continues to grow at the main jail.” Because 55 percent of inmates at the Santa Barbara jail come from North County, according to Sams’ statistics, in 2004 two proposals for construction of a Santa Maria jail were drafted. The first was a 137,640 square foot housing unit with 800 beds. The second was a 68,820 square foot housing unit with 408 beds.

Sams said that if the Blue Ribbon Commission brings plans for a North County Jail to the Board of Supervisors, its plans would closely resemble the 2004 drafts, but would also likely include a secure entry facility to comply with state demand.

But Banks warned that the commission wasn’t formed just to support a North County jail. “It seems the most obvious, but we are optimistic about other solutions as well,” Banks said.

Sams agreed. “If we’re going to commit to building a new jail, we still have to deal with overcrowding while that facility is being constructed,” she said.

Sanger and Paraskou also agreed that the problem must be approached from a comprehensive perspective. Sanger praised Sherriff Brown for his ability “to look at preventative issues in an intelligent fashion.”

And Paraskou echoed the need for a holistic approach. “The more fundamental issue is: Who are we putting in jail and why? In my opinion, we have people locked up in jail who don’t belong there,” he said.

As the problem of overcrowding continues to be a thorn in the County Jail system, discussions about existing programs and a possible North County jail will continue.

The Commission will convene twice monthly for the next six months and members are going to be asked to be on-call for an additional year following to follow up on changes to the system and evaluate the efficiency of implemented programs.