Ten years in the making, expansion of the Monterey County Jail is complete.

Around 2012, the Monterey County Jail in Salinas was hosting 1,150 inmates, with the capacity set at 825. The problem of overcrowding at the time helped the county win grant money for a jail expansion. Ten years and a handful of reforms to jail operations later, the county announced Feb. 17  the completion of the expansion and plans to begin relocating inmates in the coming weeks. 

The expansion adds 576 beds, lifting the jail’s capacity to 1,401. Deputy Chief Jonathan Thornburg of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office estimated the jail’s population on Feb. 17 between 860 and 870 inmates. The new jail is an upgrade from the existing facility, built in 1972, complete with elevators, upgraded program rooms and certain cells designed for inmates with disabilities. 

For a long time, county jails were a more transient institution, a place where people charged with minor crimes were held and, if convicted, served out their sentences, which most often lasted a year or less. 

Now, jails like the one in Salinas operate more like prisons, where convicted felons serve long-term sentences for more serious crimes. The clientele has changed dramatically, Thornburg says. This is thanks to 2011’s AB 109, the realignment bill which mandated the state reduce its prison populations, and 2014’s Prop 47, which downgraded certain theft and drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. 

“It used to be that you go to court and if the court sentences you to a year, you go to jail. If more than a year, you go to state prison,” Thornburg says. “Now we’re getting people with 15-, 16-year sentences. Everyone here either has an extensive criminal history or committed some pretty serious crimes.” 

The new facility will host male inmates, but the process of selecting which are transferred to the new facility and which remain at the existing facility requires some social engineering. Thornburg says higher-ups are making the decision based on safety and relationships between inmates. The wrong combinations could mean a greater chance for violence. 

The jail has had estimated completion dates essentially every year since 2017. The $90 million expansion experienced delays with building and fire codes, elevator installation and the pandemic.