The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has agreed to spend close to $139 million to expand the Northern Branch Jail.
The board on Monday unanimously approved a $138,650,000 contract for the project with Sletten Construction Co.
Under the contract, the company will both develop the design of the expansion and handle the construction.
The estimated total cost of the project is $167,380,000, according to a county staff report.
Jeffrey Patton, assistant director for General Services, told the board that the design-build approach will allow the county and others to provide input on the plans for the facility.
“One of the advantages of the design-build approach is it allows for collaboration with our contractor, our construction partner, as well as many stakeholders who are engaged in the process,” Patton said.
Patton said the process would include the County Executive Office, adjacent departments, and members of the community to help refine the final design.
The county has been discussing expnading the Northern Branch Jail for over a year due to concerns about the number of beds in the county jail system and the age of the Main Jail.
The county currently operates two jails, the Main Jail in Santa Barbara and the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria.
The Northern Branch opened in 2022 to help alleviate overcrowding at the Main Jail, which opened in the 1970s. The building is now out-of-date and in need of extensive renovations.
The conditions at the Main Jail led to a 2017 class-action lawsuit, and resulted in an agreement that the county make major changes to its jail system.
Due to the costs of renovating the Main Jail, the county decided to build the Northern Branch Jail and begin to reduce the population at the Main Jail.
The original design of the new jail was intended to be more modern, safer for the population, and require fewer staff members to operate.
The Northern Branch expansion will add 1.5 new housing units to the facility, which will provide 384 new beds to the jail, separated into six pods consisting of 64 beds each.
Supervisor Joan Hartmann asked Patton whether the county is now locked into the 1.5 pod model or if it could be changed in the future.
“We do see that our jail population, given lots of policies that we’ve invested in, is declining,” Hartmann said.
Patton informed her that the county still has a lot of flexibility and could modify the design in the future if needed.
In June, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury issued a report finding that the jail system had 819 beds between the two sites, but the daily jail population was 745 people.
Hartmann also said she thinks it’s important that the county begin thinking about how to decommission and lower the costs of running two jails.
The costs of operating the two jails have been an ongoing issue for the county, straining its budget.
The Grand Jury report identified the costs of the two jails as one of the main issues facing the jail system.
The jury’s report found that despite having a lower incarceration rate than in 2012, the jails are employing more administrative, support and management staff to run both sites.
The need for staffing has increased the Sheriff’s Office staffing levels, which have increased due to overtime costs. The department was on track to spend $19 million for overtime, nearly twice its $10 million overtime budget.
During public comment, residents encouraged the supervisors to modify the design if the jail population continues to decline.
Larry Severance, a member of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Santa Barbara (CLUE SB), asked the board to consider adding more beds for inmates with mental health needs and providing treatment.
He also requested that parts of the jail be placed out of service if the population drops to reduce staffing.
Severance also called for areas where inmates could have confidential meetings with attorneys, medical staff, or take part in social activities.
“In closing, please don’t treat this vote today as one and done,” Severance said. “Require periodic reports to the board with close review and input opportunities, especially in the design phase.
“Flexibility and forward thinking can potentially save the county millions of dollars in future operating costs.”
