The State prisons are experiencing severe overcrowding and a three judge panel of the Federal Court may issue an order directing the State to reduce the prison population if the State’s proposed solution is not considered adequate. Under the Public Safety and Offender Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007 (AB 900) the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation can enter into contracts with counties to construct local jail facilities. Counties would be selected by a competitive process with funding preferences for those counties willing to cooperate with the state in the placement of a prison reentry facility within the county and for providing community mental health services for the parolee population. The stated intention is to reduce the revolving door of recidivism currently experienced statewide and diminish the number of prisoners in the State system. Although these inmates were convicted and sentenced based on more serious charges, they are people who will be returning to their communities at the completion of their sentences. If the County were to participate in the AB 900 competitive process, the County could be awarded up to $100 million towards the construction costs of a new County jail, with a 25% funding match by the County. The County would be competing against both large and mid size counties from around the State for funding from a total “pot” of $ 650,000,000. Therefore the likelihood of our County receiving a maximum award cannot be assured.
However, in order to be a selected for the funding, the County must be willing to partner with the State in the placement of a prison reentry facility within the County. It is our understanding that this facility would house up to 500 inmates and be sited on three acres of County property.
Both male and female adult detention facilities in the County of San Mateo are severely overcrowded. The County has a critical need to replace the outdated Women’s Correctional Center (WCC). The most efficient site for a new local correctional facility would be the land upon which WCC sits. Building local facilities to address our own current overcrowding must be the priority, but will require a significant fiscal expenditure.
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The State’s prison overcrowding situation is independent of the County’s inmate overcrowding situation. It could, however, directly impact our status if the Federal Court orders a cap on the State prison inmate population. In such a case, State inmates could either be staying longer in the County jail and / or be released to their communities with little or no support services.
Ideally, the County would want to partner with the State to assist them in providing a re-entry facility that provides much needed services to the inmates prior to their release into our community. Such a partnership would also assist the County the funding the construction of a new jail. However, to partner with the State we would have to build a re-entry facility of 500 beds that could house inmates from other communities. Of significant concern, however, is the acquisition of land necessary to meet the State’s requirements. The site currently under consideration to replace the Women’s Correctional Center is less than the three acres the State requires. For the County to partner with the State, it will either require the purchase of additional land at the WCC site and forego the needs of our own current population, or find a separate three acre site within the County to offer the State. In either case, the County does not have the land to offer the partnership, but still may wish to compete in the process with an application reflecting the County’s available resources. .
The deadline to submit a proposal for AB 900 funding is March 18, 2008.
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