The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors indicated on Friday that the county would move forward with plans to add 384 new beds to the Northern Branch Jail.

On the last day of budget workshops, Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson explained that the board was not making a final decision about the jail beds on Friday. Instead, the supervisors were offering staff direction on where they were leaning as Santa Barbara County finalizes its budget for the next fiscal year.

The county is proposing a reduced budget of $1.64 billion for the 2026-27 fiscal year as staff prepares for an economic downturn.

The county’s fiscal year begins on July 1. The board will approve the final budget in June.

The county has been preparing for the jail expansion since March 2025, when it decided to add 1½ pods to the Northern Branch Jail near Santa Maria. A single pod has 256 beds; the 1½ pod option will add 384 beds to the jail.

The county is required to expand the Northern Branch Jail due to the 2020 settlement of a class action disability rights lawsuit first filed in 2017. That lawsuit accused the county of violating the constitutional rights of inmates because of the poor conditions of the Main Jail in Santa Barbara.

The county determined that it would be cheaper to add on to the Northern Branch Jail and reduce the population at the Main Jail.

Nelson supported the plan for 1½ pods, stating that issues at the Main Jail have haunted the county for most of his lifetime.

He added that he was proud to see the expansion of the jail move forward.

“It was an honor as chief of staff for Supervisor [Peter] Adam when we broke ground on the Northern Branch Jail, something that people said would never happen,” Nelson said.

Even though the board approved 1½ pods in March 2025, Second District Supervisor Laura Capps had previously expressed support for reducing the number of proposed pods to one.

The board had asked staff to return in April with a presentation on the cost of changing the plan to one pod.

County staff presented the supervisors with the costs and benefits of reducing the number of pods or expanding to two full pods.

If the board were to expand to two pods, the county would have to find a way to fund the additional construction, staff said.

The board has set aside $52 million from its general fund to pay for the jail expansion. The cost of the jail expansion with 1½ pods is $176 million, according to a presentation to the board.

Staff said that while a smaller expansion at the jail would be cheaper in the short term, in the long term, adding fewer beds puts the county at risk of needing to add more beds in the future.

Having fewer beds also increases the risk of overcrowding, which requires more staff to manage it.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown advocated for two full pods. He said anything below that was not enough to properly handle the jail’s population.

He said previous boards had failed to “prioritize investment in one of the most essential elements of public safety … our county jail system.”

The Main Jail was built in 1971. New sections were added to the facility in 1987 and 1992. The Northern Branch Jail opened in 2022.

More than 30 people signed up to talk during public comment. Speakers largely opposed the expansion.

Some argued that a single pod was more financially responsive, while others criticized the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office for its overtime use. (The Sheriff’s Office has for years exceeded its annual overtime budget. The supervisors said in February they would begin to audit those overtime costs.)

Cheryl Smith told the board that the issue with the jail is not a beds problem, but a problem with the system.

Smith said her son, who has schizophrenia, has spent more than 300 days in jail.

“He does not need repeated incarceration,” Smith said. “He needs secure, sustained psychiatric treatment capable of stabilizing serious mental illness and ending the cycle.”

The supervisors are scheduled to return for final budget hearings on June 16 at the County Administration Building, 105 E. Anapamu St. in Santa Barbara.

The budget workshop materials are available online here. 

The schedule for the workshops, including breakdown by department, is available here.