Board OKs jail overcrowding report but stresses lack of funds

 

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors gave kudos to the Sheriff’s department for its report on jail overcrowding, but its acclaim was short lived and overcast by reminders of county financial woes.

After receiving a report and presentation from the Blue Ribbon Commission on Jail Overcrowding Feb. 12, the board unanimously voted to accept the commission’s report on jail overcrowding — a problem that has plagued the county for two decades.

 

Sheriff Bill Brown formed the commission in April 2007. It includes experts from mental health programs as well as court and law enforcement agencies.

The report included the commission’s findings and six recommendations it felt would alleviate the persistent problem.

This is “a bold, creative, yet achievable plan” that could limit the percentage of recidivism and make the county a better place, Brown said.

The report includes plans to build a much talked about 300-bed North County jail facility; to improve existing and implement new rehabilitation and intervention programs; to invest in community corrections programs; and a proposal to increase sales and parcel taxes to help fund various programs.

 

“Year after year after year, we’ve released more inmates before their sentence is done, year after year we’ve raised the bar of what it takes before a person is put into jail, and gradually, over time, the accountability of our system has decreased,” said Rick Roney, chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission.

In 2007, more than 1,700 inmates were released early from jail, according to the report.

The leading causes of jail overcrowding are related to substance abuse, self-proclaimed gang involvement, mental health issues and homelessness.

According to the report, substance abusers make up 85 percent of the jail population, a demographic Roney called the “elephant in the room;” self-identified gang involvement make up 38 percent; people with mental health issues make up 29 percent, and homelessness accounts for 18 percent.

 

Commission members are optimistic that a new 300-bed North County jail facility would help alleviate jail overcrowding, but also recommended that the board look into partnering with the state by building a Secure Community Reentry Facility.

This would make the county eligible for $58 million in grant funding and could reduce the county’s cost of building a North County jail facility from $80 million to $22 million.

“In my opinion, the state is paying us to do something we want to do in the first place, so this is a very good deal for all sides,” Brown said.

Though the board expressed gratitude to the commission and Brown for compiling the report, 3rd District Supervisor Brooks Firestone and 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal reminded Brown that the county does not have the funds to launch such a program.

 

“We don’t have $17 million. It doesn’t exist and if it does, someone please tell me,” Firestone said.

Carbajal called the report a good blueprint but expressed concern about guaranteed state funding.

“The bottom line issue is money and where we’re going to find the money,” he said.

Some public speakers also questioned the feasibility of the report and urged the board to not exclude other funding options.

“I don’t want to be the skunk at the garden party, but I wish the Blue Ribbon Commission would have come up with a new idea other than taxes,” said Andy Caldwell, executive director for the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business.

 

Other members of the public endorsed the plans presented in the report and urged the board to take swift action.

“We need a restorative, not a punitive justice program … It’s money well spent,” said Sister Janet Corcoran.

The Final Report and Recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission of Jail Overcrowding can be viewed and downloaded at www.sbsheriif.org or www.countyofsb.org.