Monterey County Closer to Jail Expansion, Amid Criticism

The Monterey County Jail is in trouble. It’s under fire for being dangerously overcrowded, while at the same time battling criticism about some of its expansion efforts.

The jail, which was built for 825 but routinely houses around 1,100, is being sued for overcrowding and inadequate conditions. It’s recently resorted to sending dozens of inmates to a jail in Alameda County.

On Oct. 22 Monterey County Sheriff Scott Miller requested $32 million from the state to build 22 new beds for mentally ill inmates and more classrooms for rehabilitation programs. That’s on top of $80 million the jail wants for a more widespread expansion to create 576 new beds.

About half the $80 million is secured; the other half was signed off by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this month. The jail is now waiting for final approval by the Board of State Community Corrections before it starts the project.

But critics from the American Civil Liberties Union, which encourages incarceration alternatives like treatment programs, say too much growth could be ineffective and cost millions.

Lillian Chen, a criminal justice fellow for the ACLU’s San Francisco branch, says the jail would do fine with a 288-bed expansion, which the county already has funding for. That would align jail capacity with the demand it faces today.

Enforcement officials say a larger expansion of 576 beds is necessary, though. The ACLU estimates operating those additional 288 beds would cost the county $13 million annually.

“WE’RE NOT OPPOSED TO DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO KEEPING PEOPLE OUT OF JAIL.”

“It’s going to be a significant loss to both the budget and public safety in the long run,” Chen says. “Public safety dollars could be used for prevention programs.”

Miller disagrees.

“My responsibility is to provide suitable, safe housing for inmates, and right now we lack adequate housing by any standards,” he says, adding, “In a perfect world we’d love to keep people out of the jail, but I don’t decide who comes.”

The ACLU argues Monterey County could do a better job of keeping people out of the jail, eliminating the need for expansion. Judges could make better use of split-sentencing, which allows inmates to spend part of their sentence in programs like rehab. Monterey County has the sixth lowest split sentencing rate in the state.

Chen also says the Monterey County Probation Department should be more proactive in expanding its pretrial release program, which allows low-risk offenders to leave the jail while awaiting their court date. Monterey’s efforts to implement this program are noteworthy, Chen says, but could be better. The county has released about six inmates a month since beginning its pretrial program in October 2012.

“We’re going to continue pursuing those alternative options – we’re not opposed to doing everything we can to keeping people out of jail,” says Miller, who’s part of the Community Corrections Partnership, a collaboration of county health and safety officials.

He adds, “Our goals may not be as contrary to [the ACLU’s] goals as one might believe.”